A driver in Haverford, Pennsylvania narrowly escaped a fire that trapped him inside his brand new 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid this week.
The owner’s attorneys told CNBC that the driver was at the wheel when he noticed smoke coming from the back of his car and tried to open and unlock the door but had to force his way out of the vehicle when the locks seemed to malfunction. After the driver escaped, the car reportedly started moving on its own.
On July 1, Ben Meiselas a member of the legal team representing the owner, took to Twitter, posting pictures of the car saying that they had tried reaching out to Tesla and had been “ignored so far.” The owner’s identity has not been disclosed but Meiselas described him as an “exec.”
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Our firm & @AthleteDefender represent an exec who purchased new Tesla Plaid Model S, which was 1/250 shipped. On Tuesday it spontaneously combusted. Our client was trapped & could have died. We tried reaching out to Tesla & have been ignored so far. This is car after escape. pic.twitter.com/wXyJXbWggJ
— Ben Meiselas (@meiselasb) July 1, 2021
Fire crews moved the Model S Plaid to a complex once the fire had been extinguished to safely store it overnight, but CNBC reports the owner had since had the car removed to have it investigated independently and determine the cause of the fire.
The Model S Plaid is the highest performance Tesla on sale today. The first customer deliveries took place at an event on June 14 where the automaker managed to get it to hit 60 mph in 2.47 seconds. Jay Leno, meanwhile, managed to run the quarter-mile in 9.2 seconds in the car.
A spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission told CNBC that the safety regulator is aware of the fire and was in touch with all relevant agencies to gather more information.
“If data or investigations show a defect or an inherent risk to safety exists, NHTSA will take action as appropriate to protect the public,” the spokesperson said.
Fortunately for all involved, a since-deleted Facebook post from the Gladwyne Volunteer Fire Company shared by the Daily Mail says that nobody was hurt in the incident, though it took 3 hours to extinguish the fire.
