At least 17 Tesla cars were destroyed after a fire broke out at a dealership on the outskirts of Rome on Monday morning, according to Italian fire officials. No one was at the dealership when the fire broke out and no injuries have been reported.
The fire comes after a string of reports across Italy in recent weeks of Tesla vehicles being vandalized and defaced, with anti-Elon Musk and anti-Donald Trump sentiments written with spray paint.
Another car dealership burned down in northern Rome a week ago, destroying 30 cars, including used Teslas.
Also in Rome, several Teslas in the Garbatella neighborhood were defaced, according to police and social media posts.
Tesla dealerships in Milan have also been targeted by environmental groups in recent weeks.
Reports of Tesla vandalism have also surfaced in France and various parts of the United States, including the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast.
Also shitty cars they can’t fix if they break. A burned tesla is a sold tesla where they don’t have to pretend to work on. Now they can build even shittier cars, because they go off in flames anyway.
But it would translate into higher premiums going forwards. Doesn’t seem like sustainable business practice.
If they make higher premiums specific for teslas, then those dealerships can just stop working with teslas.
Tesla owns their dealerships rather than franchising them. Either way, higher premiums or less Tesla dealers is a win win