Tesla stock “fire” sale and what’s wrong with America

The news that a Tesla Model S caught fire and its impact on the stock price of Tesla Motors has really griped my rear end. You may think it’s because I’m a dyed-in-the-wool EV fan, but that’s not it. It’s really three things:

• ONE Tesla has caught fire in the five years they’ve been delivering electric vehicles and that’s news?!?!?
• The market capitalization of Tesla Motors takes a $600 million dive even though their safety ratings and safety history are undeniably great?!?!?
• Fox News is using this incident to (once again) try to slander the Chevy Volt AND the Boeing 787?!?!?

On the first point, let’s gain a little perspective here. According to the National Fire Protection Association, (the authority on fire, electrical and building safety, according to their website), between 2006 and 2010, there were an average of 152,300 car fires per year. That’s an average of 17 car fires per hour! Those are the years 4BEV through 1BEV (before electric vehicles, for the uninitiated). These are gasoline-powered cars that did this, and yet no one seems appalled!

Before it gets started, yes I know the EV1 predates this time period, but almost all of those were crushed and those that weren’t had their batteries removed. And yes, I know there have been other EVs, but they have not been widely accepted, as they are now, until recently.

Here are a few other statistics from the NFPA:

• Automobiles were involved in 10% of fires and 6% of fire fatalities.
• Mechanical or electrical failures/malfunctions were the culprit in two-thirds of these fires.
• Collisions and overturns were factors in only 4% of these fires.

My gosh, how can we allow these gasoline-powered bombs to continue to be manufactured? These statistics are horrendous! Won’t someone think of the children?!?!?

Of course, I’m being somewhat facetious here. We’ve lived with fires involving gasoline-powered vehicles for decades. I understand those aren’t news but wouldn’t it be nice (and journalistically speaking, responsible) if news organizations included some of these statistics in articles involving EV fire incidents? I know they need “Dirty Laundry,” but their purpose is to inform the public, so that intelligent decisions can be made and policies implemented. The bubble-headed bleach blonde that comes on at five could just mention the statistics at the end of the piece, with a gleam in her eye.

On the second point, Americans don’t invest, they gamble. Let’s be real about this. In light of the statistics above, the news about Tesla experiencing only one fire incident in five years should have the stock soaring! Of course, it’s already soaring and that’s part of the problem. We should invest in companies that produce products or services about which we have real knowledge or experience. That’s how you make good investment decisions. Know what you’re supporting through your investments! Do the due diligence! But no, when Americans hear that such-and-such a stock is rising rapidly, they jump on the bandwagon. Quite often, like lemmings, they follow one another off a cliff as well. Tesla’s market cap had been around 46% of General Motor’s market cap. Even Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO says the market is being “generous.” Of course, what CEO is going to say their stock is overvalued? However, the market cap (pre-fire) was approximately 260 times it’s projected 2013 earnings! How can that be rational??

Investment as gambling was at the heart of the crash of 2008. A great book on what happened in the mortgage backed securities markets is “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine,” by Michael Lewis. I’m not a big time investor. My most prominent investment was Apple, but I chose that stock because I’ve used Apple computers, iPods, iPhones, etc all my adult life. I know their quality and their utility. I believe in their products and the company. That’s why I invested in them. More Americans need to slow down in their investment approach and perhaps we would have a market without as much excitement (or stress).

On the third point, really Fox News? REALLY??? I know, I know. It’s Fox News. But my point is there are apparently a whole lot of people with televisions that cannot be tuned to different channels anymore. I mean, why else would they tune in to Fox News at all? Are they looking for comedic relief? But seriously, how does the Chevy Volt get caught up in this? There have been two fire incidents in the Volt, to my knowledge, so if anything, they should be crowing about the impressive safety record electric vehicles have. Here is the  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s report on the Volt battery fire incident in 2012 that Fox crowed about every time the Volt was mentioned. The Tesla Models S has a five star safety rating on all crash tests and the Volt has five stars with the exception of passenger front collision and that one’s four stars. Hey Fox News, here’s a testimonial to the Volt’s safety. Why don’t you run something like this?