Josh Hendrickson
One of the benefits of electric vehicles is reduced maintenance costs. But for one Finn, the cost of repairing his Tesla came up to $22,800. So he took the only logical course of action: strap dynamite to it and blow the Tesla to smithereens. And naturally, load the glorious video to YouTube.
Typically EVs are less expensive to maintain. They don’t need oil changes, and thanks to regenerative braking, they wear out brakes at a slower rate. It may not overcome the higher cost of EVs compared to traditional combustion engines, but it certainly helps.
But eventually, all EVs will run into one major repair—a battery replacement. Think about your laptop or your phone. Use it for long enough, and it won’t hold a charge anymore, and you either need to get a new device or change out the battery (if possible). The same is true for EVs, as Tuomas Katainen discovered.
After error codes started popping up, he took his 2013 Tesla Model S to the shop. And after a month, the mechanics had a diagnosis: the battery was dead. The only option is to replace it entirely, and that’s not an easy task. Despite Elon Musk’s promises years ago to create a “battery changing station” that could do the job “as fast it takes to refuel a car,” the idea never made it beyond basic demonstrations.
All told, the mechanics quoted Katainen a cool cost of £17,000 (around $26,800). Given that a new Tesla Model 3 at $46,000, it’s not to see why Katainen balked at the price to repair his eight-year-old Tesla. Instead, he picked up the Tesla and handed it over to local YouTubers ‘Pommijätkät’ (‘Bomb Dudes.’) They strapped 66 pounds of dynamite to the car and set it off—from a distance. Don’t try this at home, kiddos.
Check out the video above. It’s not in English, but you don’t need to speak the language to enjoy the glorious slow-motion video of a Tesla explosion. By the time the video ends, you won’t recognize the car. Or even the parts that are left. We’re not sure if exploding your vehicle is really a justifiable reaction to a high repair bill. But it sure is a fun one.
