How Many Owners Would Buy Again, Given the latest fire information?

[vfx]

The statistic is greater that 250,000 car fires per year.

 

[wormhole]

So interesting how people respond to this. How many Accords and Camry's have fires? More importantly, how many of those are spontaneous as opposed to striking a piece of metal debris, dragging it for some until distance causing it to spark, and then having the car TELL you to pull over and get out with no injuries to speak of, and all drives emphatically saying the car saved their lives and they are buying another?

I'd buy it again no question. Fires unfortunately are the norm for cars, be they ICE or electric...the difference is electric cars don't blow up.

 

[Andrew]

Yes. Thank goodness for the Internet & being able to get detailed information on the fires, along with a professional analysis from Tesla and large, color photos. Fire #1 was from road debris. Fire #2 was from an accident. Fire #3 was apparently also from road debris. The Model S is not spontaneously combusting like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. All of the occupants have made it out alive. In all three accidents, the fire has been limited to the frontal portion of the car. Of the 19,000 Tesla Model S cars on the road, no one has yet been killed inside one during an accident, over a nearly 18-month period on public streets.

Are the fires scary? Sure, especially since they burn & burn & burn. Not to be morbid, but the "no deaths" record will not stand forever. Statistically, someone will eventually die in a Tesla and someone will eventually burn to death in a battery fire, and it will be horrible. But statistically, 150,000 ICE car fires happen every year and a lot of people die in those as well, but people accept that as a risk of driving gasoline-powered cars. The Tesla has an extremely high 5-star NHTSA safety rating, a 1/4" metal plate underneath 16 firewalled battery cells, and an emergency warning system for the driver, which is pretty great. There's also no gas to spill & light on fire in the event of an accident, which is nice.

So despite the recent news, is Tesla still a viable option? For me, definitely. Yes.

Very well said.

 

[Mike_Schlechter]

Maybe it is because I'm also a volunteer firefighter, so I have seen many car fires over the years, but this doesn't concern me even a little bit. When cars hit things at a high rate of speed bad things happen, including fire. My biggest concern is that Model S owners are driving so fast and feel so safe (as the car is damn fast and damn safe) that they are putting themselves and others at greater risk (good old kinetic energy!).

That said, I drive my Model S 120 miles a day to and from work, and have been for 11 months, and haven't looked back even once. Fires will happen. Batteries are energy dense. In the end, if this means Tesla has to add additional shielding to the battery to deal with what appears to me to be more drama than trauma, so be it. The car will still be awesome if no changes are made. Remember, three fires isn't a trend when looking at a data set of 19000 vehicles on the road. Especially when you look at the second fire, which was a drunk driver who crashed through a wall. Anything would burn in that situation.

 

[Norcalgal]

You're not the same Norcalgal from the TiVo forums are you? If so, congrats, if not, hello and congrats.

No, not me. I have had my Tesla since March. It's funny today someone ask me if I enjoyed my car. I gave him a short version of how much I love my Tesla.

 

[stevezzzz]

I drive an S, owned a Roadster, have a Sig X reservation, and I'm long TSLA. This Kool-Aid tastes pretty good...

But, seriously: the S is such a stunning achievement and such a pleasure to drive, not to mention so safe, that I don't find the recent post-accident fires concerning at all. I'm betting TM will learn from these incidents and improve an already outstanding product.

 

[nirad]

Not an owner. I have been a lurker here who has been considering buying. I am going to wait now to see how the company deals with this issue. Will there be a recall and some kind of retrofit? I may also not order the air suspension which I had planned to include until now. The roads here in Los Angeles are in pretty poor shape, so the debris issue does matter to me.

 

[William13]

Batteries hold energy. Fires are expected. The Tesla fires are controlled. No injuries to people.

So far the Tesla looks to be the safest car on the road for its occupants.

I would buy my one year old car again. Most people I know would love to have my car.

BTW over time the Corvair turned out to be safe but fudged/misunderstood information eventually made Ralph Nader a presidential candidate.

 

[epares]

I have owned my Ms for 6 months and have been driving for 24 years. I have been fortunate enough over the years to have avoided hitting large objects on the highway. Life is full of scenarios that come into play very infrequently.
Should Tesla look at any way possible to minimize any penetration into the battery pack ? Absolutely...
Am I reconsidering my choice of vehicle? No way.
I work in NYC... On a windy day last year I saw a patio set blow off the roof of a building and almost hit someone on the street. Freak things happen every day.. If I hit something on the highway at a rapid click in my car will my spidey sense be tingling? Yes it will.... Every day I try to be as careful as possible.. I try not to drive too fast ( I know its hard in this car)... and I always look up on windy days... Drive safe and try not to run things over... that applies to any vehicle anywhere... nuff said....

 

[JohnnyMac]

Just voted. 6mos., 6k P85 owner. No issues. Poll reusults pretty much say all that needs to be said.

 

[artsci]

I really don't believe this poll has been posted. When I had a Chevy Volt I lived through all of the BS panic on its battery fires. This is the same nonsense. There is no issue here. When you crash a car bad things happen, but much less worse with Model S than an ICE. Sorry if I'm rude, but the lousy and biased corporate press coverage of EV fires angers me. This, forgive the pun, just fuels the fire of ignorance.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

I voted yes to this poll also if i still don't have a Model S, meaning to say that my intention to buy the Model S as soon as possible is unchanged in spite of the latest fire information. IMO the Model S is safe and the fires have only shown that in case of fire the Model S can still protect people inside the cabin.
Of course some improvements could be done with respect to the danger of road debris maybe in the frame of other new technical options on the Model S, but this another matter. The Model S is already a very safe car.

 

[Todd Burch]

I really don't believe this poll has been posted. When I had a Chevy Volt I lived through all of the BS panic on its battery fires. This is the same nonsense. There is no issue here. When you crash a car bad things happen, but much less worse with Model S than an ICE. Sorry if I'm rude, but the lousy and biased corporate press coverage of EV fires angers me. This, forgive the pun, just fuels the fire of ignorance.

Actually--I posted this poll for that very reason: because I knew the overwhelming majority of owners wouldn't be very concerned with this. It looks like my expectations were correct.

 

[highfalutintodd]

I would suspect that once somebody has driven a Model S for a few months, it would be extremely difficult to go back to any other car.

This is what I've been saying to people for months now. I have a hard time imagining going back to an ICE as a daily driver at this point. The fires give me a bit of pause mainly because of my concern for the long term health of the company. I believe in the car, I believe in Tesla, and I believe that they will absolutely do everything possible to prevent things like this from happening again. In the meantime, and for the record, I'm firmly in the "yes" column.

 

[Luclyluciano]

FOR THE RECORD.... I own a mercedes!

Mercedes-Benz catches on fire and explodes Comment Share

Michael BerenisTampa Sports Car Examiner
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January 29, 2010
Watching the Mercedes-Benz CL 500 burn to the frame and explode twice while on fire is a very sad sight. Even the highest safety technology can't prevent the worse from happening. Gasoline is a very explosive vapor, and all cars no matter their price are susceptible to the flames. Caught burning at an intersection outside of a mall in McLean, Virginia the CL 500 is captured on tape exploding not once, but twice. The fire truck arrives to extinguish the burning pile of German engineering, but it's too late and the vehicle is a total loss.


Looking at the footage, it's hard to say what caused this fire. There are many things that can cause a vehicle fire, but the most likely cause was some kind of electrical short in the fuel system. Or, if a fuel line breaks and leaks anywhere near the exhaust, that is another probable cause of fire. We also can't rule out occupant negligence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, and all we can do is speculate. Mercedes-Benz takes extreme pride on their safety features and final product assembly and there is no cause to believe this is a manufacturing defect. It could very well be a little fire gnome going around and igniting high dollar luxury vehicles. We just don't know!


The truth is that vehicle fires happen all the time, no matter your make or model. The fact that you are driving around with one of the most volatile substances known to man is justification enough to say each ride is a roll of the dice. Did you know that every time you pump gas into your tank, you are creating thousands of volts through static electricity? Should the grounding systems of your car fail, it's very likely an explosion will take place. Vehicles are dangerous machines and should be carefully inspected as often as possible. You never know when the unfortunate will occur!

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I ALWAYS LIKES THE LOOK OF A NICE BMW BUT NOT ON FIRE.....

BMW catches fire, Chennai businessman burnt alive
TNN Jun 24, 2013, 04.17AM IST




Tags:
invest|Friends|BMW
HYDERABAD: A 25-year-old businessman from Chennai was burnt alive and two of his friends were injured when a BMW car that they were travelling in fell off the Outer Ring Road ramp at Pedda Amberpet in Hyderabad and caught fire on Sunday afternoon.




The victim was identified as Manoj, 25, from Chennai, while his friends Vasu and Ravi are from Hyderabad. The car that they were travelling in (TN 02 AL 2628) fell off the ramp at 1.30pm, when they were heading to Vijayawada.






Manoj went to Hyderabad a week ago to invest in a hotel and he had temporarily moved into a flat in the city.


Vasu, a software engineer in Madhapur, was driving the car from Gachibowli to Pedda Amberpet and lost control while negotiating a curve on the ORR ramp right before the tollgate at Pedda Amberpet. The vehicle toppled on the roadside after crashing through a safety railing.


Due to the high-speed collision, the rear portion of the car caught fire and the occupants cried out for help. Tollgate staff and locals rushed to the spot and managed to pull out Ravi and Vasu from the vehicle. "Manoj was stuck between the car and a portion of the railing which pierced through the car. By the time people could reach Manoj, flames had engulfed him and he was dead," police said.

 

[jandkw]

I voted yes because I believe in Tesla design and safety rating. However, my friends have been asking me about if I feel safe to drive after 3-fire incidents. I like to see if Tesla/Elon can investigate further to find some preventive measure instead of showing only the statistics between EV vs ICE car fires. I believe the latest down-slide of the company stock has something to do with the fires due to consumer confidence. Tesla has been drawing a lot of public attention due to the successful launch of Model S and any proactive measure will calm the public.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I'm on the wait and see fence, mostly because a module redesign will probably result in lower prices for the pre-redesign vehicles.

 

[L@urens]

Those on the fence are just looking for an excuse not to buy yet. There must have been hesitation anyway.



How is a non-spontaneous burning car, where no one was injured from the fire, world news?



Local news tells me at least two cars burned in my direct vicinity last night. One accident, one parked (!). No Tesla involved.

Having said this, all manufacturers should continuously improve on crash worthiness and non-flammability.

 

[neroden]

Maybe it is because I'm also a volunteer firefighter, so I have seen many car fires over the years, but this doesn't concern me even a little bit. When cars hit things at a high rate of speed bad things happen, including fire. My biggest concern is that Model S owners are driving so fast and feel so safe (as the car is damn fast and damn safe) that they are putting themselves and others at greater risk (good old kinetic energy!).

Yeah.... drive careful, folks. Remember, the Model S can go as slow as you like -- great car for cruising in a parade or riding behind bicycles. No need to rush.

Especially when you look at the second fire, which was a drunk driver who crashed through a wall. Anything would burn in that situation.

Don't be that guy. Please.

 

[lgagliardi]

Yes, yes, yes, I would buy again. It is by far the greatest car on the planet!!