In the wake of a series of Model S fires that dragged on Tesla Motors Inc.’s stock recently, Elon Musk, the tweet-happy CEO of the electric-car company, took to Twitter on Tuesday to lament the public’s interest in the fires which did not maim or kill anyone. He also touted the safety of the Model S, claiming that it has the best safety record of any car on the road.
The tweets come on the heels of Monday’s announcement from the company that it has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a full investigation to alleviate concerns about the overall safety of its cars and in effect, promising a recall of all Teslas on the road.
While we think it is highly unlikely, if something is discovered that would result in a material improvement in occupant fire safety, we will immediately apply that change to new cars and offer it as a free retrofit to all existing cars.Tesla’s TSLA +2.70% proactive stance has helped its stock to rebound more than 5% on Tuesday. The stock has shed roughly 12% in the three days following an incident last week where three workers were injured after a machinery malfunction at its Fremont, Calif. plant.
But the recent correction aside, the stock is still up 277% for the year, making it one of the most prominent high fliers of 2013 and helping Musk to win MarketWatch’s CEO of the Year title.
Meanwhile, it looks like Musk isn’t done tweeting for the day yet. As this story was going to copy, he fired off several more tweets, the last one about extending Tesla’s warranty to cover fire damage.
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