A Tesla burst into flames during a crash test. The organizer admitted it was staged

A global insurance company is taking heat for staging a battery fire during a crash test of a Tesla sedan.

The insurance firm Axa was claiming to demonstrate how electric cars can quickly erupt into a dangerous blaze after an accident.

But it wasn't the Tesla's battery that caught fire. In fact, Axa had removed the vehicle's battery ahead of the late August demo, the Paris-based company later said.

A video of the crash test posted by the Swiss Auto Trade Association shows a yellow Tesla hurtle toward an obstacle and then...