Tesla Model 3 car reportedly explodes in China

A Tesla Model 3 sedan exploded this week in a Chinese parking garage, according to local media reports.

The car blew up Tuesday evening in an underground parking garage in a residential community in Shanghai, where Tesla opened a factory in late 2019, multiple Chinese media outlets reported.

Tesla told reporters that no one was hurt in the crash, but flames from the explosion gutted the car’s interior and appeared to char its body, according to published photos from the scene.

The electric-car maker told local media that the incident was likely caused by an impact to the underside of the car that damaged the battery.

The vehicle apparently caught fire after its bottom struck a manhole cover as the driver pulled into the garage, Shanghai’s Xinmin Evening News reported, citing the complex’s property office.

Tesla said it is cooperating with the local fire department and helping the owner to claim insurance, according to Yicai Global, a financial news outlet.

It’s unclear whether the Model 3 vehicle was made at Tesla’s Shanghai plant or imported from the US. The company did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment Thursday morning.

The explosion came amid safety concerns about Tesla’s vehicles in China, which is an increasingly important market for the Elon Musk-led automaker’s business.

The state-run Economic Information Daily newspaper published an article earlier this month criticizing Tesla’s driver-assistance technology and its cars’ retractable door handles. That followed Tesla’s October recall of about 30,000 vehicles in China because of suspension problems, which the company reportedly said were caused by “driver abuse” rather than a defect.

Tesla also sent a team to China in 2019 to investigate reports of one of its Model S sedans exploding.

Tesla shares were up about 0.6 percent in premarket trading Thursday at $856 as of 7:21 a.m.