Tesla Model S Burns Causing Stock Price Jitters

TTAC Staff
by TTAC Staff

After photos were published of a Tesla Model S in Washington state burning following a collision, with a subsequent 9.1% dip in the price of Tesla stock, the company issued a statement. The car, “collided with a large metallic object in the middle of the road, causing significant damage to the vehicle,” the EV startup said. For the day, Tesla shares fell 6.2 percent, or $12.05, to close at $180.95 in New York trading on Wednesday. The decline was biggest one day drop in Tesla’s stock price since July 16. Analysts attributed the steep decline on their opinion that the stock was already overvalued, making it susceptible to any bad news.

The company said that the damage sustained was contained within the front end of the car, that the passenger compartment was not compromised in any way and that the Model S performed as designed. “This was not a spontaneous event,” a Tesla spokesperson said. “Every indication we have at this point is that the fire was a result of the collision and the damage sustained through that.”

The driver, who was not injured, pulled over after the car informed him to do so, and then smelled something burning. After exiting the car he called emergency responders, who had some difficulty extinguishing the blaze. At first the fire appeared to be under control, but it reignited and when firefighters decided that water seemed to be intensifying the fire, they switched to a dry chemical fire extinguisher.

To put out the fire, which took place in the front of the car after the driver hit some metal debris, disabling the car, firefighters first dismantled the front end of the Model S and put holes into the battery pack. When that wasn’t effective they used a circular saw to cut an access hole to the battery and extinguished the fire.


TTAC Staff
TTAC Staff

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  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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