It looks like the Tesla Model S is good to go in Germany now that they’ve been cleared of any fault in three reported vehicle fires. Tesla was cleared of any safety defect by the German Federal Motor Transit Authority.
This news comes at the same time that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is in the middle of an investigation for the same problem. There have been two fires reported in the US and one in Mexico. It was the intense media coverage and speculation about possible defects that caused Tesla to actually request that the NHTSA investigate the fires. They’re that confident that no safety issues will be found.
The German investigation was initiated as a result of those three fires. They requested data and additional information which the company provided. After reviewing it all, they determined that the high speed crashes which resulted in the fires involved no manufacturer defects and that no further investigation is necessary.
Tesla currently sells the Model S in select European markets and has only been in Germany since the second half of this year. The German investigation of the fires and its subsequent findings that there is no defect will go a long way toward supporting those same assertions as made by Tesla and their CEO, Elon Musk.
Musk has consistently stated that there is no defect in the cars and in fact praised how they’ve performed during the fires. In all three fires, the Tesla Model S was being driven at high speed when it sustained damaged. Drivers and passengers were able to exit the cars without injury and the fires were contained to the fronts of the vehicles. The passenger compartments were in tact and one owner even reported that he was able to retrieve items from the glove box once the fire was extinguished.
The NHTSA is currently still investigating the fires and has yet to release its findings.
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.
