Tesla is taking unprecedented steps in response to media frenzy and consumer concerns about Model S catching fire as a result of damage to its battery pack. As Musk points out in his blog post titled The Mission of Tesla, the rate of fire incidents in gasoline cars is much greater than Tesla’s record thus far. Nevertheless, the company is taking a number of steps to confirm the root causes of these fires and is already taking measures to reduce the likelihood of these extremely rate incidents.
Even more astounding is Musk’s announcement that Tesla will amend its warranty policy to cover damage due to a fire, even if due to driver error. This is truly unprecedented. Sure, Tesla’s brand and electric vehicles technology always invite criticism (too often from the uninformed “I am not an automotive engineer but…” types) and should be explained and defended repeatedly. But to my recollection, no other OEM, and very few manufacturers of other products, ever stood so firmly behind their brand to offer warranty coverage for damage caused by the driver.