A Tesla high-end car caught fire while the owner was driving, the lawyer told Reuters

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) – A Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂 Inc Model S Plaid electric vehicle was ignited while the owner was driving on Tuesday, after a three-month car was delivered for $ 129,900 after it was delivered in June, the driver’s lawyer told Reuters.

The driver, identified as an “executive entrepreneur,” was initially unable to get out of the car because his electronic door system failed, prompting the driver to “use force to push open,” said Mark Geragos, of Geragos & Geragos. on Friday.

The car continued to travel between 35 and 40 feet between 11 and 12 feet before turning into a “fireball” in a residential area near the owner’s Pennsylvania home.

“It was a tremendous and tremendous experience,” Geragos said.

“This is a new model … We’re doing some research. We’re asking for the S Plaid to be placed on the ground so that it doesn’t stay on the road until it reaches the bottom of this,” he said.

Tesla did not make an immediate comment when it contacted Reuters.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the performance of his Model S sedan is “faster than any Porsche, safer than any Volvo,” at an event last month at the Fremont, California-based manufacturer’s factory.

Earlier in April, he said the new Model S sedan and Model X sports vehicles had a new battery.

“It took a lot of development to make the battery of the new S / X safe,” Musk said in a conference call, addressing production delays. “There have been more challenges than expected in developing the new version.”

Local fire authorities said in a now-deleted Facebook (NASDAQ 🙂 message that “a Tesla was on fire” and that it had “cooled to ensure the batteries were completely extinguished.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it is “in contact with the agencies involved and the manufacturer to gather information about the incident.”

The federal security agency said, “If the data or investigation results in a security breach or inherent risk, the NHTSA will take steps to protect citizens.”