Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects his company’s name to be cleared out of charges regarding battery fires after the federal investigations.
After three vehicular fire incidents involving Tesla’s Model S electric cars that have occurred in a matter of five weeks, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), announced on Tuesday that they will investigate the company for possible precursor to a recall.
Though Musk was quoted telling Bloomberg days ago, “While we think it is highly unlikely, if something is discovered that would result in a material improvement in occupant fire safety, we will immediately apply that change to new cars and offer it as a free retrofit to all existing cars,” he still displayed confidence that his company’s Model S electric cars are safe and will be cleared of charges.
He told The Associated Press that the let off, which happened after metal road debris pierced the underbody of the electric cars, is close to impossible. He is also convinced that there will be no product recalls and that Tesla’s engineers are not working on any fixes for the battery-operated electric cars.
The first fire accident happened in October 1 in a freeway near Seattle and it occurred when the electric car hit a curved truck part. The other one happened along a freeway in Tennessee wherein the car crashed in a trailer hitch. The third incident happened in Mexico when the driver smashed into a concrete wall at a speed of over 100 miles per hour. Fortunately, no one was injured during those three incidents, so, it implies that there are no safety issues for drivers or passengers.
Aside from the fire incident, another reason for the probing, according to Musk, is economic loss from the fires, but that is unlikely to become a problem because the electric cars involved in a fire loss during crashes are covered by a warranty.
"I'm not saying it can't happen again," he said. "I'm saying in any kind of low-speed impact, you're fine. Any car, Model S or not Model S, the underside is going to get significantly damaged if you drive over a large metal object."
