Multiple Teslas destroyed in possible arson in Rome
The fire, which started early on Monday, seriously damaged or destroyed 17 cars
A fire that destroyed more than a dozen Tesla electric vehicles at a dealership on the outskirts of Rome is being investigated as a possible arson.
The fire, which started early on Monday, seriously damaged or destroyed 17 cars.
Tesla Italy said it was cooperating with police, and that it had turned over surveillance video from the vehicles themselves.
The cars’ internal video operates even when they are off.
Tesla has been the target of protests around the world against owner Elon Musk’s affiliation with the Trump administration.
Protesters swarmed a Tesla showroom in San Francisco on Saturday as part of global demonstrations targeting Tesla dealerships.
Crowds, ranging from dozens to hundreds, blocked Tesla locations across the U.S. in an attempt to surround all 277 of the automaker’s showrooms and service centres.
Prosecutors in Colorado charged a woman last month in connection with attacks on Tesla dealerships, including Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray-painted on a building. And federal agents in South Carolina have arrested a man they say set fire to Tesla charging stations near Charleston
In Florida, footage from a Tesla camera appeared to capture a Florida man damaging the electric vehicle with a sharp object.
Drivers are also turning away from Tesla. Data from Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council reveals a 35 per cent drop in Tesla sales in the four months following Trump's election compared to the same period the previous year.
European sales of Tesla vehicles tumbled 49 per cent in the first two months of the year even as overall sales of EVs grew.
Tesla sales are falling globally, however.
The company posted its first annual sales drop in more than a dozen years in January.
Tesla's new Cybertruck has had multiple recalls including last week, when the company recalled nearly all of them because panels that run along the left and right side of the windshield can fly off when driving.