Elon Musk: media attention over Model S battery fires is ‘insane’

Elon Musk: media attention over Model S battery fires is ‘insane’

The CEO firmly believes that the Model S battery is of sound and safe construction.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Tesla Motors and its flagship Model S electric car over the past few months, as a pair of car fires caused by breached batteries called the car model’s safety into question.

In early October, the first fire occurred after the driver ran over a piece of sharp metal debris in the road. The metal was kicked up from the highway and pierced the battery. The driver was able to calmly drive the car to a highway exit, park it, and get out before flames consumed the vehicle. The driver in the second Tesla fire wasn’t hurt either, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone on record expressing that the fires would have been far more catastrophic and deadly in a conventional gas powered car.

Musk’s defenses of his company’s most popular consumer vehicle didn’t stop federal investigators from deciding to take a look into the two fire cases. However, according to an interview with The Associated Press, Musk has pledged confidence that the investigation won’t lead to much. In Musk’s view, the two car fires were little more than isolated incidents, both caused by an outside force in the form of a sharp metal object.

The CEO firmly believes that the Model S battery is of sound and safe construction, and he and his company engineers are not currently planning a recall or working on any sort of re-design or overhaul that would change the battery’s design. The biggest change the company has made so far in response to the fires was an amendment to the warranty coverage of the car. The two drivers whose cars were destroyed by battery fires were compensated for their losses.

However, Musk’s firm resolve and belief in the Model S hasn’t made the media scrutiny surrounding the fires any easier. The CEO called the media attention surrounding the fires “insane” and likened it to “torture.” Since no one was hurt in the fires – and since, according to the Associated Press, no one has ever been injured in a Model S crash – Musk believes the media outcry concerning the incidents has been disproportionately high.

The unwanted attention extends to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which announced earlier this week that it would add its own weight to the Model S media witch hunt, investigating the car and the “potential risks” associated with the car’s battery placement.

While Musk and Tesla aren’t planning for a recall, the government investigation could ultimately force their hand in the matter. In the meantime though, Musk is still ardently defending the placement of the battery – beneath the passenger seat, for a low-center of gravity – and the protective shell that protects it – quarter-inch thick aluminum.

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