When faced with a repair bill that is half of what you paid for your car, do you take it to the junkyard or sell it for parts? Tuomas Katainen, the owner of aTesla, decided to do something a little more extreme when faced with such a situation: he watched his car go up in flames.
After he was quoted $22,500 for a battery replacement, Katainen gave his Model S to a group of explosion experts on the internet. The first 1,500 km of the car was nice for Katainen. Errors codes hit. The only way to fix the car was to replace the entire battery pack, which would cost him at least 20,000, or $22,500.
A group of people strapped 66 pounds of explosives to a car and parked it in a quarry.
The base price for a new Model S was $57,400 when it first came out, and then increased to $59,900 when the car was released. A standard used model costs around $30,000. Katainen picked up the car from the shop and told the mechanic that he was going to explode it.
These cars come with an eight-year battery and drive unit warranty, but the warranties on older models are starting to expire, revealing the potential cost of a full battery replacement. In September, Electrek reported on a Model S owner in need of a battery replacement that was no longer under warranty. He was quoted $22,500 from the company, but ended up getting a repair for $5,000 from a third-party shop. It is not clear if he had access to an alternative repair service.
The group behind Pommijtkt strapped a large amount of explosives to the car and parked it in a quarry in Jaala,Finland. At least in spirit, Musk was there. A helicopter dropped a crash test dummy with a helmet, thick winter jacket, and a picture of Musk in the driver's seat.
The explosion from inside the nearby Bunker was followed by a ball of fire, with what seemed like thousands of pieces scattering throughout the snowy landscape. The group picks up a pile of scraps. When asked if he has ever had fun driving a car, Katainen said, "No, never!"
