Posted on 08/16/2016 10:11:48 AM PDT by Red Badger
DETROIT - A Tesla Model S spontaneously burst into flames in Monday while on a test drive in France, according to French media reports.
The car was being driven by a couple and a representative of Tesla as part of an event hosted by the California electric carmaker. The Model S sedan was cruising on the boulevard d'Aritxague in Bayonne in the southwest of France when the incident occurred.
The driver of the car told French media outlet Sud Ouest that after a little acceleration there was a warning noise in the car, at which point the Tesla host told the driver to pull over so she could call Tesla about the issue before continuing the test drive.
The trio then saw white smoke, and exited the vehicle. The driver, identified only as Nicolas, said the car was engulfed in flames in less than a minute and totally destroyed within five minutes. No one was injured.
Tesla said in a statement to Agence France Presse the company is working with authorities to determine what happened.
A video of the car engulfed in flames was posted to Twitter:
Incendie de la #Tesla lundi 15 août 2016 à #Bayonne. Avant l'arrivée des pompiers. Voiture complètement détruite. pic.twitter.com/qT8h6ccFoP Cédric Faiche (@cedricfaiche) August 15, 2016
That's their new "Pinto" model.....
Ping!...............
They got out. Nobody was injured. That’s not my idea of bursting into flames.
I had one, 1974, and it had Firestone 500’s on it......................
Cool!
Got to love a good Car-B-Q
Publicity, all right, but maybe not GOOD publicity....
Electric funeral!
Not to worry. It was one of the black ones, not a red one
“the car was engulfed in flames in less than a minute”
Seems pretty fast. Had they not noticed the smoke for a handful more seconds they might have been seriously hurt.
Le Tune-up de Youngstown
My sister had one and never really had any problems mechanically with it. I had a girlfriend in 1981 that had one too. The girlfriend’s Pinto had the “wood grain” siding and what appeared to be a couple bullet holes which should make it an instant classic.
Elon Musk should have an automatic fire extinguisher installed in every vehicle.....................
Well, we have already made the deposit on the first day of offer! Better fix it before delivery!
I never had any problems with mine until it reached about 80k miles and a connecting rod end cap fell off driving down the road....................
Smoking in bed.
Thanks now i got that song Electric ave in my head head
No problem! That’ll buff right out.................
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