Owner Of Tesla Model S That Caught Fire Defends His Car

The Tesla Model S That Caught Fire in Tennessee
The Tesla Model S That Caught Fire in Tennessee

The owner of that Tesla Model S that caught on fire in Tennessee last week has written about the experience in a post on the Tesla Motors blog.

Juris Shibayama, MD was driving on the interstate at about 70 MPH when the incident occurred. He says there was a trailer hitch in the middle of the road (a rusty one, no less) that he didn’t see until it cleared the truck in front of him.

There wasn’t enough time for him to swerve out of the way, so he drove straight over the trailer hitch. He goes on to say he not only heard it hitting the car, but felt lift it lift the car into the air.

Initially, he thought he’d gotten through the incident okay, until about a minute later when the car display notified him that the vehicle needed service and might not restart. Still, he kept driving his Tesla Model S for another minute until the next message came up with a more insistent warning. “Please pull over safely. Car is shutting down.”

Shibayama did as directed and was in complete control of the vehicle the whole time. He was even able to get his stuff out of the car and then about ten seconds later he saw smoke coming from the front undercarriage of the car. Another two minutes, and the fire was visible.

How does he feel about Tesla after the whole incident?

“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.”

He also notes that, despite the fire damage to the exterior, the handles still popped out during the fire when he pressed the key fob to give firefighters access. Even the glove compartment was undamaged and he retrieved items from it when the fire was safely extinguished.

Since this is on the Tesla Motors blog, you know this wasn’t likely to end with Shibayama saying he feared for his life and would never set foot in another Tesla Model S, but it is still a heck of an endorsement. He could have said nothing, but he chose to come out and stand up for the company and its car.

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.