NBCNews - Tesla car battery 'spontaneously' catches fire on California freeway, requiring 6,000 gallons of water to put it out. Apparently "nothing unusual" had occurred before the Tesla Model S became "engulfed in flames,". The car's battery cells "continued to combust" while the fire was being extinguished. The car had to be jacked up to get to the battery bank to extinguish the blaze.