Elon Musk threatens to sue reporters who implied Cybertruck design contributed to car bomb
Authorities are investigating the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas as a terrorist attack, believed to have been triggered by explosive materials stashed in the vehicle and not due to any malfunction of the vehicle itself. But tech billionaire Elon Musk is so adamant reporters communicate this fact, he is threatening to sue anyone who implies otherwise, Politico reported Thursday.
According to the report, Musk was responding to a right-wing influencer on his X platform, Robby Starbuck, who wrote, “These headlines are sabotaging @Tesla’s brand by making people think it caught on fire. There’s about 1 Tesla fire for every 130 million miles traveled. Other cars have 1 every 18 million miles.”
In particular, Starbuck singled out a headline from Business Insider referring to the incident as a "Cybertruck explosion."
In response to a suggestion that reporters be sued over these headlines, Musk replied, “Maybe it is time to do so.”
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Electric vehicles in general, including Tesla models, appear to catch fire less frequently than traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. However, some experts have warned that electric vehicles that go aflame can be harder to extinguish given the energy of burning lithium-ion batteries.
Regardless, there is no evidence the Cybertruck detonation was a result of a component in the vehicle, which was packed with fireworks. The driver, an Army Green Beret who was reportedly an avid Trump supporter with an unclear motive, died of a gunshot wound before the explosion. Seven people nearby were injured, but the blast seems to have been largely concentrated upward.
Musk has been quick to note this in the aftermath of the incident, writing, "Cybertruck is the worst possible choice for a car bomb, as its stainless steel armor will contain the blast better than any other commercial vehicle."
However, some fire experts have questioned whether this is accurate, with one telling The Washington Post, “You didn’t really have an explosion as much as you had a bonfire. I’m not at all convinced that the Cybertruck being so strong is the reason it blew upward.”