Tesla Model S Owner Unfazed by Car Catching Fire

by Burke Speaker | November 11, 2013 10:25 am

In a customer blog post on the Tesla (TLSA[1]) website, a Maryland Tesla owner describes how his Model S caught fire — though that will not deter his love of the vehicle.

The post comes at a time when Tesla is under scrutiny for a series of battery fires that have led to a call for an investigation into the Model S vehicles.

Juris Shibayama wrote how his vehicle drove over a trailer hitch that had come undone from a truck in front of him, and that the car responded just as he would expect it to in such a situation.

The Tesla soon alerted him via an engine light that there was a problem, though the car owner continued to drive hoping to make it closer to home. The Model S then alerted the driver that it was shutting down and advised that he safely pull over.

The driver writes of the experience:[2]

About 5-10 seconds after getting out of the car, smoke started to come from the front underbody of the car. I walked away from the vehicle to a distance of about 100 yards. More smoke started to come out of the bottom of the car, and about two minutes after I walked away, the front of the car caught on fire.

….This experience does not in any way make me think that the Tesla Model S is an unsafe car. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

This is the latest incident in which Teslas have caught fire[3] when the batteries have been damaged.

Auto safety leaders have urged an investigation into the fires in recent weeks.

TSLA is up 313% year to date.

Endnotes:

  1. TLSA: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=TLSA
  2. The driver writes of the experience:: https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/model-s-owner-tennessee
  3. Teslas have caught fire: http://www.thestreet.com/story/12103452/1/tesla-motors-inc-tsla-supported-by-panasonic-after-model-s-fires.html

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/11/tesla-model-s-owner-unfazed-battery-fire/