Slashdot Mirror
Musk Lashes Back Over Tesla Fire Controversy
Nerval's Lobster writes "A small handful of Tesla electric cars have caught fire, driving down the company's stock price, and finally prompting CEO Elon Musk to tackle the issue in a new blog posting. 'Since the Model S went into production last year, there have been more than a quarter million gasoline car fires in the United States alone, resulting in over 400 deaths and approximately 1,200 serious injuries (extrapolating 2012 NFPA data),' he wrote in that posting. 'However, the three Model S fires, which only occurred after very high-speed collisions and caused no serious injuries or deaths, received more national headlines than all 250,000+ gasoline fires combined.' Responsible journalism on the matter, he added, has been 'drowned out' by 'an onslaught of popular and financial media seeking to make a sensation out of something that a simple Google search would reveal to be false.' According to his own figures, Tesla suffers an average of one fire per 6,333 cars, versus a rate of one fire per 1,350 gasoline-powered cars. Every Tesla vehicle includes internal walls between the battery modules, in addition to a firewall between the battery pack and the passenger compartment — enough shielding, in the event of a fire, to prevent pens and papers in the glove compartment from combusting. 'Despite multiple high-speed accidents, there have been no deaths or serious injuries in a Model S of any kind ever,' Musk continued. 'Of course, at some point, the law of large numbers dictates that this, too, will change, but the record is long enough already for us to be extremely proud of this achievement.' Tesla is about to push an 'over-the-air update' to its vehicles' air suspension that will create more ground clearance at highway speeds. In theory, that could reduce the chances of impact damage to the underbody, should the vehicle roll over an object — and that, in turn, could lower the chances of fire."
... because they need better testing, clearly.
Violent crime is a growing problem.
The perpetrators often have had problems growing to maturity as members of civilized society.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
If Elon Musk and KAOS really wanted you DEAD , do you really think they're going to piddle around with setting your overpriced %1'er golfcart on fire?!!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
tfs:
Every Tesla vehicle includes internal walls between the battery modules, in addition to a firewall between the battery pack and the passenger compartment — enough shielding, in the event of a fire, to prevent pens and papers in the glove compartment from combusting
so, in case of a fire we should crawl into the glove box?
That's what you get for using DC in a car named after me, Elon!
Set your phasers on "funky"!
On the bright side...every Tesla that burns is one more whose battery lasted the entire vehicle life without need for replacement.
That is not high speed. Let me tell you about high speed... 155 MPH is what I drive on the autobahn. THAT's high speed. 70 is chugging along on1 the highway at normal speeds.
155 mph?? You call THAT high speed? Hah! Try doing over 14,000 MPH on your dinky autobahn. Call me when you can do even half of that!
Signed, MAVEN
how many Priuses catch fire in wrecks
As any Prius owner will be happy to inform you, Priuses don't catch fire unless the owner has purchased a sufficient number of carbon credits to compensate for the fire's environmental impact.
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
Can you hear the growing 'Woosh'?
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
oil/fluid leaks dripping on to cataclysmic converters...
Well, there's your problem.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Yes, Prius knows the secret of NIMH, which is why they can develop up to 300 mousepower.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.