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Video: Rather than pay $22K to repair his Tesla’s faulty battery, the owner decided to strap dynamite to the car and blow it into smithereens
Image Source: YouTube screenshot

Video: Rather than pay $22K to repair his Tesla’s faulty battery, the owner decided to strap dynamite to the car and blow it into smithereens

Faced with an astronomical repair bill, the owner of a 2013 Tesla Model S recently decided that he'd rather strap 66 pounds of dynamite to the vehicle and record it exploding into thousands of pieces than pay the cost to fix it.

What's the background?

Tuomas Katainen said his modified electric vehicle only worked as advertised for the first 900 miles he drove it. Then it started leaking water and producing troublesome error codes, Business Insider reported.

The Finnish native decided to have the car towed to a nearby Tesla dealership for inspection and see what could be done. A month later, the dealership informed him that the only solution would be to completely replace the entire battery cell. The job would cost him $22,000.

On top of that, Telsa would need to authorize the repair and no warranty would be offered, Katainen said.

So, rather than paying half the cost of a new Tesla to repair an old one, he opted to trash the vehicle instead — in an extremely unconventional way.

Mies joka räjäytti TESLANSA!! Tesla Model S & 30kg dynamiittia.youtu.be

What happened next?

Katainen contacted demolition experts from one of his favorite YouTube channels, Pommijätkät, translated "Bomb Dudes," to help him dispose of the vehicle.

The "Bomb Dudes" jumped at the opportunity and carted the Tesla out to an old quarry in Jaala, a remote village two hours northeast of Helsinki. There, they strapped it with 66 pounds of high-powered explosives and set up cameras to capture the blast in slow motion.

Just before the detonation, a dummy with Tesla CEO Elon Musk's face was flown in on a helicopter to operate the vehicle as it met its fate. Then the crew retreated to a blast shelter, Katainen pressed the button, and the car was no more.

A short pause was followed by a massive flash-bang as a charge ran along the detonation cord and the dynamite sticks erupted in fire.

What else?

Tesla's standard warranty for a Model S covers eight years or 150,000 miles, but Business Insider noted that it "may be voided if the battery is opened or serviced by anyone not authorized by Tesla" and that it doesn't cover "damage resulting from intentional actions," such as modifications.

In Katainen's case, the exorbitant cost of a battery replacement effectively forced him to give up on the vehicle and at least get some enjoyment out of its demise.

Thankfully, his Tesla explosion was intentional. Others have not been so fortunate.

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