Last month brought us two Tesla Model S fires and now a third example of the electric vehicle has caught fire in Tennessee.
The adjacent images show a Tesla Model S on fire on the side of the highway. The photos showed up on the Tesla forums, being brought to our attention by Valuewalk.
The flames are emerging front the front end of the car, but, at the moment, it’s not clear if the vehicle has been involved in a crash or not. Tesla has confirmed the incident to Valuewalk, explaining that they will offer an official statement on the matter.
“We have been in contact with the driver, who was not injured and believes the car saved his life. Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened. We will provide more information when we're able to do so,” Tesla said.
Tesla’s stocks have recently dropped and we’ll have to see how this third fire will affect them. At first sight it could seem like Tesla is having an obvious problem, but things are more complex than that.
First of all, there are many cars that burn, with or without crashing, but since people are used to that, they don’t make a big deal out of it. And if we are to judge the Tesla Model S by official standards, this is one of the safest cars ever tested by the NHTSA.
Secondly, since Tesla’s popularity has grown quite a lot, some conspiracy theory adepts claim that mainstream US carmakers could have a hand in these Tesla fire stories.
Regardless of that, we’re waiting for Tesla’s official statement on this.
Update: The owner of the vehicle said the fire was caused by a trailer hitch that “was sticking up” on the road. He added he was notified by the car to pull over and that the flames didn’t reach the cabin. Read the full third Tesla fire story here.
The flames are emerging front the front end of the car, but, at the moment, it’s not clear if the vehicle has been involved in a crash or not. Tesla has confirmed the incident to Valuewalk, explaining that they will offer an official statement on the matter.
“We have been in contact with the driver, who was not injured and believes the car saved his life. Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened. We will provide more information when we're able to do so,” Tesla said.
Tesla’s stocks have recently dropped and we’ll have to see how this third fire will affect them. At first sight it could seem like Tesla is having an obvious problem, but things are more complex than that.
First of all, there are many cars that burn, with or without crashing, but since people are used to that, they don’t make a big deal out of it. And if we are to judge the Tesla Model S by official standards, this is one of the safest cars ever tested by the NHTSA.
Secondly, since Tesla’s popularity has grown quite a lot, some conspiracy theory adepts claim that mainstream US carmakers could have a hand in these Tesla fire stories.
Regardless of that, we’re waiting for Tesla’s official statement on this.
Update: The owner of the vehicle said the fire was caused by a trailer hitch that “was sticking up” on the road. He added he was notified by the car to pull over and that the flames didn’t reach the cabin. Read the full third Tesla fire story here.