WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:
- An angry owner of a 2013 Tesla Model S had blown up his car after learning he needed $22,000 to repair a faulty battery.
- The man teamed up with several YouTubers and loaded the car up with 30kg of dynamite.
- The Tesla car was blown up with a dummy of Elon Musk sitting in the driver’s seat.
Tuomas Katainen’s 2013 Tesla Model S worked fine for the first 900 miles. Then water leaks and error codes had him calling a tow truck to take it in for repairs.
The repair shop told Katainen he needed to pay about $22,000 for the replacement of the faulty battery. Additionally, they would need to get authorization from Tesla for the repair.
The news made Katainen so upset, he decided to do something different. He reached out to some of his favorite YouTubers, including Lauri Vuohensilta of Hydraulic Press fame.
The crew removed the lithium-ion battery, motors, and other expensive components from the car. They hauled the chassis out to an old quarry in a remote village about two hours from Helsinki, Finland.
The demolition experts from the YouTube channel Pommijätkät (Bomb Dudes) strapped 66 pounds of high explosives to the Tesla car. It was captured by slow-motion cameras.
Before blowing up the car, a helicopter swooped in and dropped a dummy with the face of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The mannequin was strapped into the driver’s seat of the car.
Katainen was given the honor of pressing the button that would destroy the vehicle.
In the video, a charge can be seen racing along the detonation cord, setting off a series of blasting caps that break the windshield and loosen several body panels.
After a short pause, the 14 hotdog-shaped charges erupt into a blinding ball of fire, sending a massive shockwave rippling out from the car.
The videos of the explosion racked a combined 5 million views.
The standard warranty on a Model S covers eight years or 150,000 miles but may be voided if the battery is opened or serviced by anyone not authorized by Tesla. The warranty does not cover “damage resulting from intentional actions,” like blowing the car up for a YouTube video.
Source: Business Insider
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