Tesla's Third Model S Fire Brings Call for U.S. Safety Probe

We Ask: Can Tesla really weather the recent storm?

We have had three Tesla fires in five weeks and now there is a pending US Government investigation. Can Tesla recover from the recent spate of events? Share prices have plummeted and things aren’t looking too good.

The most recent fire was a result of someone damaging the undercarriage of their vehicle with a tow-hook which caused it to burst into flames. The first one was back on October 1st (a result of metal debris) and the second fire was over in Mexico in the middle of the same month.

Although car fires do happen, it does seem that there is an inherent problem with the underneath of the Tesla Model S.

It has been suggested that Tesla need to make the aluminium casing stronger (that is the host for the lithium-ion battery) to meet with the demands of potential road debris; at the moment, there is a 6mm plate on the bottom of the car.

Even if the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agency don’t prosecute, there is always now going to be a problem for Tesla when it comes to selling more units – after all, nobody wants to buy a car that they can’t be sure is safe.

And you have to think about resale values; if I owned a Model S right now I would be concerned to put it mildly. It will certainly be interesting to see how residuals are affected, for both the short and long term; if they are poor, unit sales will obviously slow.

You have to remember that Tesla is a modern day automotive success story; they made electric cars cool. They outsold all other sellers of electric vehicles and made the biggest profits. Despite the recent furore, they have still quadrupled their profits this year (and Tesla’s largest shareholder and CEO Elon Musk net worth is valued at 7.4 billion US Dollars).

So, can Tesla outrun the damage that these fires have caused them, publicity-wise? Perhaps; it is said that all three of the Tesla owners who were caught up in the recent fires want another one.

For now, Tesla may be weathering the storm but only time will tell as to whether the words Tesla and Fire remain synonymous; this is something that they will just have to shake off if they want to remain at the top of the electric car game.




Written by @MotorMistress
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