Toulouse (France) (AFP) – A dozen Teslas were torched in France in what authorities are treating as an arson attack, the prosecutor's office said Monday.
I'm surprised this hasn't been happening in the US
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
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Once again the French demonstrate that they know how to raise hell.
We need to get more like the French.
There was a post here the other day asking if vandalism was OK because someone wrote something with their finger on a muddy swasticar.
Now this is vandalism. Or possibly an accident, batteries like to burn violently and Tesla isn't known for build quality or safety...
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Setting EVs on fire is really bad for the environment. Can't people just mess up these cars by cutting cables?
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C'mon, please don't generate revenue for Tesla - not even from insurance policies. It makes more sense for the cars to just stand around and rust despite the stainless steel. Nobody wants to buy from that goddamn Nazi anyway.
But hey, maybe Musk had the cars set on fire himself - that would be a rather harmless insurance scam compared to his other activities...
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Probably the batteries, yeah?
Yeah, lithium batteries are well known fire hazards.
And once they get going, they get going, google thermal runaway for some interesting videos.
To fight a thermal runaway you need to cool it down fast, ice is commonly recommanded.
I think all the ice is being used to kick out illegal immigrants though.
EV fires are fought by flooding (most commonly)
So would a snow machine work ?
No, but snow would probably be effective at cooling down a battery experiencing thermal runaway
Ohhh, ice for the required melting energy? I thought that would be offset by the more difficult handling and lower flow rates. Interesting.
No, no, you just deport the battery so it explodes in someone else's country.
Good news to start the day :)
I wish it produced less pollution, but if it kills Tesla sales in Europe its probably a net benefit.
Yes, it’s good to see something fun in a middle of all these miserable days.
They did nazi that coming
I think - for their own safety, of course - we should gather more of these Tesla vehicles together in a central location so they can be isolated from the population at large... Perhaps in some sort of tent-based accommodation?
Not one of your best jokes.
Nazi jokes are funny.
I bet Jewish people just love a good nazi joke.
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If the finances there work the way I expect they do, if it was political activists upset about Elon Musk who burned the cars, that probably doesn't have a lot of negative impact on Elon Musk.
My guess is that the dealership owned the cars, and that they're probably insured on top of that. The insurer pays. So the net effect is going to be a tiny amount of upwards pressure in French auto insurance costs. The dealership will use insurance money to go buy replacement Teslas. Thus, Tesla will get several more sales, paid for by the French public.
That only holds true, if no more than a tiny amount of Teslas in dealerships start burning. However if many start burning, insurance will drop coverage, dealers will look to sell other cars, and Tesla will loose serious revenue.
This risk is unique to Teslas. So if an insurer applied the cost to all brands, they would create an adverse selection problem where Tesla owners buy the subsidized insurance at a greater rate, and other car owners would be driven to the competition.
This is why they ask so many questions when insuring your car, like if it's a red Ferrari. Eeeeeverything goes into the algorithm.
Why did the dealership buy more Teslas with that money instead of a different brand?
Do dealers not deal with a single manufacturer in france?
Oh right, I forgot they mostly do that in the USA don't they? Don't know if France does, but Finland has multibrand dealerships
Well, for some dumb reason we followed the american model for dealerships in Canada.
I wasn't there though... Do it again so I can see.
Spring season. Fires. Expectable.