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Tesla wants to see battery-fire Model S

LOS ANGELES, California – A Tesla Model S caught fire in the US after the car split in half and burned after a high-speed chase and collision in California, Los Angeles.

Now the electric-car maker wants to study the wreckage of the stolen car, according to a Bloomberg News report published in the Detroit News.

The company, led by South African Elon Musk, is working with Los Angeles police and fire officials investigating the incident that began early on Friday (July 4) when an unidentified man stole the car and led police on a high-speed chase.

VIDEO: Tesla Model S splits in two in major crash

According to Bloomberg reports, the chased car later collided with several vehicles in West Hollywood and the car split into two after hitting a street-light pole. The crash triggered what was believed to be a battery fire and it driver, who was injured in the incident , was arrested, the report said.

MAJOR CRASH

A Tesla spokesperson, Bloomberg reported, said: “We’ve asked to take a look at the vehicle as soon as that’s possible. There aren’t so many S’s involved in major crashes, and certainly not quite like this one, so we absolutely want to have a look to understand what happened.”

The California-based Palo Alto dealer’s Model S was priced from the equivalent of R768 930 – from where the car was reportedly stolen - and has a five-star rating for crash-worthiness. According to the automaker, it added a titanium plate in March to further strengthen the casing that protects its lithium-ion battery after the NHTSA reviewed crashes that triggered Model S fires.


Read the original Detroit News story here.

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