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On June 16, a Tesla Model 3 caught fire in Nanchang, Jiangxi.

According to the owner Mr. Chen, the car suddenly accelerated to 127km/h in driving state before the incident. There was no response when the brakes were applied. It avoided four or fifty cars all the way, and finally caught fire at the end of the road and burned down. .

Picture source: car home

Just over ten days after the Nanchang fire incident, Tesla was again exposed to a shocking news-concealing battery defects for up to 8 years.

Quality problems are still the “pain points” of Tesla Motors.

1 Tesla battery door

Batteries have always been the “life gate” of new energy vehicles.

On June 25, Eastern Time, foreign media Business Insider reported that according to Tesla’s internal leaked emails, Tesla had known in 2012 that the Model S’s battery cooling device was improperly designed, and may even be short-circuited. There was a fire, but at that time management chose to ignore this issue for output and performance.

screenshots of foreign media reports

According to leaked emails, Tesla has entrusted three companies to test its battery cooling system, and all three reports have shown that there are problems with its terminal connection accessories.

According to people familiar with the situation, Model S batteries rely on cooling plates to regulate temperatureHowever, since the end joint of the cooling coil is made of weak aluminum material, it is possible to form extremely small pinholes in the braze joints of the male and female parts of the end joint.

These pinholes lay hidden dangers for fatal accidents.

According to industry insiders, this pinhole may cause coolant leakage, which may corrode the battery and cause a fire hazard. The foreign media mentioned in the report that as of the end of 2012, Tesla had discovered leaks in various stages of production, and these issues were notified to the company’s executives in the same year.

At this time, it is unclear when Tesla will fix this design flaw, and Tesla declined to comment on the matter.

2 Will Tesla’s stock still hit new highs?

The exposed “battery door” can have a large or small impact on Tesla.

Automobile industry analyst Zhang Xiang told the Times reporter that from the current battery defects exposed, Tesla must not be able to solve it easily, because this problem needs to be adjusted for the overall design of the car battery pack. Since Tesla has known this problem for a long time, but it has not been resolved, it means that this problem cannot be solved by a smaller cost.

Tesla spontaneous combustion accident scene map

Data shows that between 2012 and 2019, a Tesla car will catch fire every 175 million miles traveled.

On April 21, 2019, in the underground garage of Ted Huayuan Community, Yude Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, a Tesla car suddenly emits white smoke, and then fires and burns. The fire also affected other parked around. vehicle. On May 3 of the same year, San Francisco, the United States also had a Tesla car spontaneous combustion in the garage.

Nine days later, after a Tesla Model S electric car stopped at San Po Kong Plaza in Hong Kong for about half an hour, the battery began to smoke and appeared flames, and three explosions occurred during the combustion process. It took the firefighters 45 minutes to put out the fire. According to the Tesla owner, the incidentI have complained to Tesla many times before that I have a problem with my car’s battery.

Picture source: network

At that time, Tesla’s spokesperson responded to the frequent fire accidents, saying that the possibility of a Tesla car encountering a fire is about one-tenth that of a traditional fuel car. In the above incident, we did not receive any information. It shows that the fire is related to a problem with the car itself.

Within less than a month, there are many battery fires worldwide, and Tesla’s quality is worrying. In the end, car manufacturers have to face consumers. A small quality problem is enough to completely destroy consumer confidence.

Reviewing the history of the automobile industry, Toyota’s “brake door”, Volkswagen’s “exhaust valve” and other events, all because of a certain quality problem of the car, had to recall the sold car on a large scale. In addition to recalling consumer confidence, recalling cars will also severely damage the reputation of car brands, and even sales will be affected.

If the US takes the initiative to intervene in this battery incident, Tesla may have to recall the problematic models produced after 2012.

An industry source told the Times reporter that Tesla’s battery problem originated in 2012, at which time it was Tesla’s “life and death” moment.

Times Weekly reporters reviewed Tesla’s financial report and found that Tesla’s revenue in 2011 totaled $204 million, of which the fourth quarter net loss reached $81.5 million. By the third quarter of 2012, Tesla’s net loss Has exceeded 100 million US dollars to 111 million US dollars. But at the time, Model S produced only 100 vehicles per week.

If you can’t deliver your car, you’ll lose your order; if you lose your order, you’ll lose revenue. This endless cycle forced Tesla to concentrate on producing cars, and all problems encountered were left to be solved in the future. According to industry insiders, at that time Tesla must hurry to deliver the car. If you stop at the time to correct this error and the order cannot be delivered, Tesla’s stock price will fallFacing the cruel cash flow problem, it may cause Tesla to close its doors.

At present, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the problematic Tesla Model S touch screen produced between 2012 and 2015, and it is expected to involve 63,000 vehicles. Compared with battery defects, the touch screen is just a small problem.

Even so, Tesla cars that are not “perfect” are still very popular.

Public information shows that Tesla’s operating income in the first quarter of 2020 was US$6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 32%. Among them, the net profit increased by 102.28% to 16 million US dollars, which was the third consecutive quarter of positive growth. It is reported that Tesla delivered approximately 88,400 trams worldwide in the first quarter, with a 14% increase in delivery.

In fact, Chinese consumers also contributed a lot to Tesla’s revenue.

Data shows that in May this year, the domestic Tesla Model 3 once again took the risk of breaking 10,000, ranking first in the pure electric car market, of which 10,411 individuals were insured, accounting for up to 91.6%. In other words, individual consumers are still Tesla’s main customer type.

Tesla share price performance

It’s just that after Tesla’s “battery door” was exposed, the stock price fell slightly. As of the close of June 26, Tesla’s share price was $959.74 per share, a decrease of 2.66%, but it was not far from the previous high of $1027.48.

An investor said that as long as Tesla can ensure continued profitability in the second quarter, the stock price has a chance to hit a new high.

3 Electric car or fuel car?

Behind the continuous new highs of Tesla’s stock price, there is a long-disputed question-do consumers need electric vehicles or fuel vehicles?