Press quote "There was a failure in a low pressure aluminum casting press. Three employees were injured by hot metal from that press. We are making sure that they receive the best possible care."

November 9, 2013
From a Model S owner in Tennessee
By Juris Shibayama, MD
I was driving home from work on the interstate in the right lane at approximately 70 miles per hour, following a truck. In the middle of the lane, there was a rusty three-pronged trailer hitch that was sticking up with the ball up in the air. The truck in front of me cleared the object. I did not have enough time to swerve to avoid the hitch, and it went below my car. I felt a firm "thud" as the hitch struck the bottom of the car, and it felt as though it even lifted the car up in the air. My assistant later found a gouge in the tarmac where the item scraped into the road. Somewhat shaken, I continued to drive.

About 30-45 seconds later, there was a warning on the dashboard display saying, "Car needs service. Car may not restart." I continued to drive, hoping to get home. About one minute later, the message on the dashboard display read, "Please pull over safely. Car is shutting down." I was able to fully control the car the entire time and safely pulled off the left shoulder on the side of the road. I got out of the car, and started to get all my belongings out. About 5-10 seconds after getting out of the car, smoke started to come from the front underbody of the car. I walked away from the vehicle to a distance of about 100 yards. More smoke started to come out of the bottom of the car, and about two minutes after I walked away, the front of the car caught on fire.

I am thankful to God that I was totally uninjured in any way from this impact. Had I not been in a Tesla, that object could have punched through the floor and caused me serious harm. From the time of impact of the object until the time the car caught fire was about five minutes. During this time, the car warned me that it was damaged and instructed me to pull over. I never felt as though I was in any imminent danger. While driving after I hit the object until I pulled over, the car performed perfectly, and it was a totally controlled situation. There was never a point at which I was anywhere even close to any flames.

The firemen arrived promptly and applied water to the flames. They were about to pry open the doors, so I pressed my key button and the handles presented and everything worked even though the front of the car was on fire. No flames ever reached the cabin, and nothing inside was damaged. I was even able to get my papers and pens out of the glove compartment.

This experience does not in any way make me think that the Tesla Model S is an unsafe car. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

Juris Shibayama, MD

As of the last official count, there are 19,000 Tesla Model S sedans on US roads. Three of those, as has been widely reported, have caught on fire after significant accidents. That means one in about 6,333 Model S sedans has caught fire, and none of those fires led to any injuries. By way of contrast, there were 172,500 gasoline-car fires in the States last year, which, according to the National Fire Protection Association, equals about one in every 1,450 vehicles on US roads.

Put more simply, as stated by Elon Musk in his latest posting on the official Tesla Motors blog, "You are more than four and a half times more likely to experience a fire in a gasoline car than a Model S! Considering the odds in the absolute, you are more likely to be struck by lightning in your lifetime than experience even a non-injurious fire in a Tesla." While the assertion of dangerous lightning strikes may be just as spurious a correlation as those who claim the Model S is a burning inferno waiting to happen, the point is clear: You are quite unlikely to experience a fire in a Tesla Model S.

Still, Tesla has announced a new three-pronged approach to assuage Model S fire fears, the first of which is an over-the-air software update that will increase the car's ground clearance at highway speeds. This will hopefully make it less likely to impact debris on the road surface, which was the cause of two of three Model S fires.

Second, Tesla has "requested that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conduct a full investigation as soon as possible into the fire incidents," according to Musk, who had previously said a there would "definitely" not be a recall. While a recall still seems highly unlikely, Musk says that "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."

Finally, in a move we'd describe as very baller indeed, Tesla has amended the warranty of its Model S sedan to cover damage due to a fire, even if due to driver error. "Unless a Model S owner actively tries to destroy the car, they are covered," says Musk.

Tesla asks feds to investigate Model S fires, amends warranty to cover fire damage

When former Apple and Gap executive George Blankenship joined Tesla back in 2010, he said he was excited to be "changing the world for the better" with "some of the boldest and brightest people on the planet." Perhaps the world has been changed enough, since Blankenship left the company a few weeks ago, notes the San Jose Mercury News.

The executive's departure comes at an interesting time for Tesla, with the company's global expansion just getting started in earnest. European and Asian sales and deliveries started this year. At the very least, Blankenship has managed to fulfill his desire to get "people to want the car, I don't want to sell them the car."

No one seems to know why Blankenship left Tesla – the company still lists him as the vice president of its sales and ownership experience on its website, and Tesla would not comment on the matter to Reuters. However, it's no surprise that Blankenship says he wants to spend more time with his family. We know this because of the excellent way he has updated his LinkedIn page. He now says his job is Director of Smiles for the Blankenship Family and that his "current position is focused on finding as many ways as possible to make as many people smile as often as possible."

Dear Tesla Advocates,

The Dealers in Ohio are working hard to pass legislation to prevent Tesla from selling vehicles in your state. As a Tesla advocate in Ohio we need your help now. This legislation, SB 137, would change existing law to exclude Tesla from opening or operating any additional facilities in Ohio. Make no mistake – this bill would prevent Tesla from opening stores and service locations in Ohio!

Tesla is putting boots on the ground to fight for consumer choice – and you too can play a part TODAY.

Please contact the Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Senate President, your local Senator and state Assemblyman, and let them know that you want Tesla to stay and grow in Ohio! Please join us and other Tesla Advocates at the Capitol for the House Transportation, Public Safety, and Homeland Security Committee hearing on December 4, 2013 to show your support for Tesla and against SB 137.

Did you know:

• There are more than 250 Tesla Roadster and Model S owners in Ohio with more joining our community every week.
• Ohio companies supplied well over $10 million in parts and components this year to build Model S vehicles in the United States, with that number expected to double by this time next year.
• With a service center in Dublin and stores opening in Columbus and Cincinnati this month, Tesla will support 26 employees, and every location will add an initial $7 million in direct economic activity to the State. Tesla will be banned from creating additional jobs, opening new locations and bringing substantial economic investment from a U.S. company to Ohio if this legislation passes.
• Tesla intends to install a number of Superchargers to enable long distance travel in the State before the end of the year to support the growing number of Tesla owners in the region.
Spread the word, and thank you for your immediate action!

GERMAN FEDERAL MOTOR TRANSPORT AUTHORITY (KRAFTFAHRT-BUNDESAMT) CONCLUDES REVIEW OF MODEL S INCIDENTS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Tesla received a recent inquiry from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority, Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), regarding the Model S post-crash fire incidents in Seattle, Tennessee and Mexico. The KBA is the German authority in charge of motor vehicle regulation. They have the power to initiate and perform investigations, and compel recalls. In response, Tesla provided the KBA with data and additional information regarding each of these incidents.

In investigating these incidents, the KBA reviewed Tesla's responses to their inquiries, as well as other information. They subsequently issued the following statement:

According to the documents, no manufacturer-related defects [herstellerseitiger Mangel] could be found. Therefore, no further measures under the German Product Safety Act [Produktsicherheitsgesetz (ProdSG)] are deemed necessary.

Tesla's strategy to sell cars, such as the Model S, through manufacturer-owned retail stores has rubbed traditional franchise auto dealerships the wrong way. The battle between Tesla and the Ohio Auto Dealers Association heated up quickly over the past week because a proposed amendment to an Ohio road-maintenance worker safety bill (Senate Bill 137) threatened to ban Tesla stores in Ohio. The automaker asked for help from its supporters to fight the amendment, and on Tuesday all 12 members of the Ohio senate passed the bill without it, Transport Evolved reports.

After the vote, Tesla sent out an e-mail to its supporters thanking them for their help, which you can read below:

Dear Tesla Advocate,

Earlier today, the Ohio House of Representatives Committee on Transportation, Public Safety and Homeland Security voted out Senate Bill 137 without the anti-Tesla amendment attached to it. We would like to thank all our customers and supporters who took the time to contact their local representatives and express their views on the matter. Your help was crucial to stopping this amendment! Tesla looks forward to continued investment in the state and serving our customers in Ohio, including at our new stores opening in Columbus and Cincinnati this month.

Thanks again for your support!

The amendment was added to SB 137 at the last minute, and the bill originally was to be voted on yesterday. But Tesla wrote e-mails to its advocates on Monday asking for help to fight the inclusion of the amendment, and the vote was quietly moved to Tuesday.

Both republicans and democrats expressed a desire to be careful with the issue of manufacturer-owned dealerships. Rep. Rex Damschroder (R-Fremont) says, "I've watched amendments go through at the last minute and making mistakes." He continues, "This issue is of such importance that it shouldn't be rushed," The Columbus Dispatch reports.

"Are we standing in the way of something that is innovative?" Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) reportedly asked. "This is an up-and-coming, 6,000-employee group that should be given an opportunity to expand."

So for now, Tesla's business model is legal in Ohio, and its first store in the state is scheduled to open in Easton on Friday. A week later the automaker will open a second store in Cincinnati. Of course, there is another incentive for Ohio to not block Tesla's business model. As Damschroder puts it: "[Tesla] might have future potential in Ohio - they are looking for somewhere to build their pick-up trucks," The Columbus Dispatch reports.

Timelines change, but when the timeline in question is the debut of the upcoming 'cheap' electric vehicle from Tesla Motors, potentially called the Model E, and that it's being moved up by a year or two, it catches our eye. Instead of the hopefully-2016-no-later-than-2017 debut we heard about earlier this year, Tesla higher-ups are now saying the less-expensive EV will get here in 2015. In January.

Tesla design chief Franz Von Holzhausen spoke with AutoBild recently and dropped the bombshell that the company might actually unveil the Model E at the Detroit Auto Show in 2015 (see update below), which would mark the first time the California automaker has ever unveiled a vehicle at an auto show (all other debuts were at Tesla-organized events). Of course, a 2015 NAIAS debut could still mean a 2016 on-road date, but if the first public look at the Model E is just 13 months away, that's got to put a bit of fear into other automakers who are getting used to selling EVs for around $35,000, which is the rumored price. Previously, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted that a 1Q 2015 reveal was possible.

Despite the earlier timeline and a few notable fires in the Model S recently, Von Holzhausen said he's not feeling pressured to rush the car out the door. "The fires don't affect my work," he told AutoBild (in our translation). "We're more interested in making a safe car. That's not changing." Oh, and he also confirmed that Tesla is working on a pickup truck, and said it will be built on its own platform and that it would "make sense" for Tesla to make a small city car someday. As for Tesla's next vehicle, the Model X, it is "nearly finished" and the team is working on the last aerodynamic tweaks.

Von Holzhausen also took a swipe at the look of the BMW i3, saying it looks more like it came from IKEA than a design house. He's not totally dismissive, though, saying he likes the look, even if it "doesn't have to be so funky."

UPDATE: Tesla Communications' Patrick Jones emailed AutoblogGreen to say that Von Holzhausen's interview wasn't quite accurate. He said, "I just want to clarify the timeline has not changed and to say that the vehicle will definitively arrive in 2015 is not accurate. ... We have not confirmed an unveiling at Detroit Auto Show 2015 and the timeline for a consumer roll out has not changed."