Walmart is dropping its lawsuit that accused Tesla solar panels of causing fires at 7 stores
- Walmart has dropped its lawsuit against Tesla, which accused the company's solar panels of causing fires at seven stores.
- Tesla engaged in "widespread negligence" as it installed more than 200 systems at Walmart stores nationwide, the original complaint said.
- Terms of the lawsuits cancellation were not immediately clear. Neither company responded to a request for comment.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Walmart has dropped its lawsuit that claimed Tesla solar panels caught fire on the roof of seven stores throughout the United States.
According to a court filing from Monday, Walmart's complaint was "voluntarily discontinued without prejudice" to Tesla.
Shares of Tesla spiked about 1.5% when the filing was made public Tuesday morning.
Neither company immediately responded to a request for comment from Business Insider.
In August, when the retail giant's lawsuit was originally filed, it said the fires were a result of Tesla's "widespread negligence" as it installed systems on more than 200 stores, all of which had been switched off after the fires.
"Tesla has also demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to remediate the dangerous conditions documented in its inspection reports," the complaint said.
In the wake of the lawsuit, Amazon said that Tesla panels had also caught fire on the roof of one of its fulfillment centers in Redlands, California. A spokesperson said at the time that Amazon had no further plans for more Tesla solar projects beyond its existing 11.
In the summer of 2018, Business Insider reported in August, Tesla quietly launched "Project Titan" to replace defective solar-panel parts. Specifically, Tesla was replacing connectors and optimizers, parts that are meant to regulate the amount of energy flowing to a solar panel. Too much energy can cause a fire.
In response to that reporting, Tesla said that less than 1% of sites with the connectors had "exhibited any abnormal behavior."
