Viral
Owner Blows Up His Tesla In Protest At Having To Pay $23k For A Replacement Battery
“So I told them that I’m going to blow the whole car away.”
A Tesla owner from Finland isn’t having it when he’s told that the price tag on a new battery is £17,000 or about $23,000. Angered by the absurd price tag, Tuomas Katainen decided that he might as well just blow it up as an act of protest against Elon Musk and his car company – plus, it is excellent content for a YouTuber who was willing to work with him.
The car is currently priced at £73,990, or around $100,000.
Unhappy with the customer service’s treatment, the 26-year-old blew up his 2013 Tesla S Model 2012 with the help of Pommijätkät.
The owner shared, “When I bought that Tesla, the first 1,500 km were nice, it was an excellent car so far.”
“The error code hit in, so I ordered a tow truck to take my car in service. The car was about a month in a Tesla dealer’s workshop, and finally, I got a call that they can’t do anything for my car; the only option is to change the whole battery cell.”
“The cost would be at least Euro 20,000, and permission for the operation has to be asked from Tesla. So I told them that I’m going to blow the whole car away because apparently there was no guarantee or anything.”
Tuomas isn’t the first unhappy customer when it comes to the price of replacing the battery. Tesla and Musk have long been facing similar criticisms for years.
Electrek previously reported a US Tesla owner was charged $22,500 for a battery replacement out of warranty. While Tesla offers unlimited warranties for eight years for the model’s battery, owners often find themselves offered a replacement instead of repair when the batteries fail after the warranty.
He later brought his car to a third-party YouTuber mechanic who only the necessary parts fixed for a total of $5,000, including the service charge.
The warranty works for batteries that lose up to 70% of their capacity below 150k miles or eight years of purchase.
They added a dummy of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, into the car.
The crew headed for Jaala, a rural village where an old, non-functioning quarry is located.
The car was strapped with 30kg of dynamites with Tuomas as the triggerman.
As the countdown finished, the cameras captured the blast in all its glory and varying angles. The explosives blew up the parts into bits and sent a shockwave to its surrounding.
The debris flew sky high as the crew later gathered them together to be thrown away.
Concerns over the safety of driving Tesla cars have been raised since the batteries have been observed to combust when they fail or are damaged. The autonomous features have also been protested against by many. Owners have also been continuously protesting over the high cost of replacing the battery.
On the other hand, the sole biggest shareholder of Tesla has been hailed as an advocate for electric cars that are environmentally friendly as sales continue to rise throughout the years.
Watch the clip below!
