Automobile
Shocking! Man burns his Tesla car worth Rs 70 lakh over high repair bill
Tesla and Elon Musk are often in news for both good and bad reasons. While Tesla cars are touted as one of the best electric cars in the world, they are often attracting negative publicity due to crashes or catching fire due to battery malfunction. However, this time around, a Tesla Model S caught fire because the owner of the electric car wanted to send a message to Elon Musk and Tesla Inc.
In a bid to protest against the cost of a replacement battery, a Tesla Model S owner in Finland decided to blow up his electric car with dynamite along with an effigy of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, media reports say. According to the Daily Mail, Tuomas Katainen blew up his Tesla S Model 2012 with 66 lbs of dynamite after its battery failed and he was faced with the $22,000 repair bill.
Instead of stumping up the cash, the 26-year-old contacted local Youtubers to blow up the car — for which prices now start at $100,000, the report said. The Finnish Youtubers agreed to blow up Katainen`s car and even put a dummy with Musk’s face inside the motor, it added.
The car was strapped with explosives on rugged, snowy terrain in Katainen`s native Finland, with the Youtubers training high-definition cameras on the car to capture the explosion in all its glory, from as many angles as possible. Tesla and Musk have faced a wave of complaints about the cost of replacing a battery, with third party garages providing replacements for a quarter of the cost, as per the report.
According to the auto-tech website Electrek, another Tesla owner in the US was told a battery pack replacement would cost him $22,500 at a Tesla service centre. However, he took it to an independent garage who provided a working replacement battery for $5,000. The report mentioned that Tesla’s warranty covers battery replacements if the capacity drops below 70 per cent within 150,000 miles or eight years of purchase.
However, owners of older models are being left with large repair bills from Tesla as their batteries lose power and give their cars a reduced range, the report said.
Automobile
Improved version of Hyundai Creta launched in Indian market: Check it out here
Hyundai India launched the much-awaited Creta Knight Edition in the country at a starting price of Rs 13.51 lakh (ex-showroom, all-India). This new variant is available in both petrol and diesel engine options and can be had either with a manual or an automatic transmission unit. To read more about the Creta Knight Edition, click here. In addition to this, the company has also introduced a model-year update for the Hyundai Creta with new feature additions.
The 2022 Hyundai Creta is now available in a new Denim Blue colour option and the Highline TPMS is now standard across all variants. The SX (O) trim now also gets a glossy black centre console. Furthermore, the company will offer the iMT option on the 1.5-litre petrol ‘S’ variant to further expand choices for the customers. The new S+ variant powered by a 1.4-litre T-GDi petrol engine with 7DCT now gets an additional set of features, such as –
– Smart panoramic sunroof
– 16-inch black alloy wheels
– Smartphone wireless charger
– Rear Disc Brakes
– Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
– Vehicle Stability Management (VSM)
– Hill start assist control (HAC)
– Paddle shifters
– Metal pedals
– Electric and auto-folding ORVMs
– Power window auto up/down
Mechanically, the SUV continues to be powered by the existing petrol and diesel engine options.