Tesla is fighting hard against news that its popular Model S sedan or the car's charging system was related to a garage fire in November this year.
Tesla's fully electric luxury sedan, the Model S, is one of the most popular electric vehicles in the U.S. However, in recent months, Tesla was dogged controversies that several Model S cars were catching fire.
One of the Model S' caught fire on October 1 in Washington State and the other in Tennessee on November 6. However, both the cars caught fire after hitting metallic road debris that damaged the battery casing of the car.
On November 15, another Model S in Irvine, California, was reported to have caused fire in a garage. Reports indicated that the car was being charged via a wall socket in the garage, when it caught fire. However, Tesla as well as US regulators have investigated the matter and have confirmed that the Model S or its charging system were not the cause of the fire in the garage.
Steve Concialdi, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority said that investigators cannot conclude whether the fire started in the wall socket or was caused by the car's charger. However, the fire had nothing to do with the battery of the Model S in question, he said.
"The cable was fine on the vehicle side; the damage was on the wall side," per Tesla. "Our inspection of the car and the battery made clear that neither were the source."
Tesla also confirmed that it had investigated the Model S related to the garage fire and found that the battery had been charging normally and there were no temperature fluctuations in or any malfunctions within the battery or the charge electronics.
The electric car maker is already under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pertaining to the fire incidents in its Model S cars. However, Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, is confident that the NHTSA will clear the Model S. The NHTSA has not commented on the Irvine garage fire case.
However, it seems that Musk is not happy with the high attention given to the company's Model S fire news. "Why does a Tesla fire w no injury get more media headlines than 100,000 gas car fires that kill 100s of people per year?" tweeted Musk.
Musk has reason to be upset because the company's shares dived 4.91 percent on Thursday to close at $140.72 on the NASDAQ.
Why does a Tesla fire w no injury get more media headlines than 100,000 gas car fires that kill 100s of people per year?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2013
