Space weather causes EMFs at the surface. Those fields interact with lithium ion batteries. That interaction can induce lithium batteries to heat up and then catch fire (thermal runaway). So the fact that lithium batteries only seem to catch fire during solar storm & geomagnetic unrest (as demonstrated in my pinned post), suggests thats the exact mechanism thats occuring.
Link #1 shows how solar storms lead to electric currents in soil and how those currents create magnetic fields.
Link #2 shows a real world measurement of electromagnetic fields at the surface during a solar storm. This is an amatuer measurement in England April 18th, same weekend several Teslas crashed and caught fire.