I am quite sure much of the driving public never would have thought a battery powered car could go up in flames. That might be the real damage here.
Regardless of Musk's statement, a gasoline powered car would not have suffered a fire most likely in this incident as its fuel source does not stretch to the front of the vehicle. More than likely the debris would have done some serious damage to the underside of the car, if any. There is a lot of open, hollow, space in the underside of most modern cars.
He is handling it wrong by trying to tell people that this car fire is not anything special. Seeing that the fire department had to do quite a bit to contain it means his cars will burn to the ground just like any gasoline car will. I doubt any fire will leave the car in any state but salvage.
Regardless of Musk's statement, a gasoline powered car would not have suffered a fire most likely in this incident as its fuel source does not stretch to the front of the vehicle. More than likely the debris would have done some serious damage to the underside of the car, if any. There is a lot of open, hollow, space in the underside of most modern cars.
He is handling it wrong by trying to tell people that this car fire is not anything special. Seeing that the fire department had to do quite a bit to contain it means his cars will burn to the ground just like any gasoline car will. I doubt any fire will leave the car in any state but salvage.