Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter, now known as X, seems to be doing some good for the electric vehicle community. Since Musk has taken over the platform, he has heavily promoted the use of Community Notes to fact check everyone, even himself, as needed. This became particularly useful recently after CBS News Sacramento published a rather misleading report about a “Tesla Fire” in California.
Last week, the news outlet posted a video covering a fire that was reported in front of a Tesla store on Granite Drive in Rocklin, CA. While no injuries were reported, the blaze was significant enough to damage two parked Tesla vehicles outside the store. Readers added a Community Note to this Post: https://t.co/coOxz3Lvn8
CBS News Sacramento’s coverage of the incident specifically focused on the fact that two Teslas caught fire. As could be seen in the comments section of CBS’s YouTube post about its report, numerous users interpreted the story as another instance where Teslas just randomly burst into flames. Others echoed typical anti-EV talking points, while some called for Teslas to be banned due to their alleged fire risks.
Thanks to X’s Community Notes feature, users of the social media platform were able to add some context to the news outlet’s coverage. As per X users’ Community Notes, the fire outside the Tesla Rocklin store was actually started by a combustion-powered pickup truck whose exhaust got unfortunately caught in some bushes.
This meant that while it is true that two Teslas outside the Tesla Rocklin store burned, the vehicles were not the source of the blaze at all. A fire started by a combustion-powered truck simply spread to the Teslas. This detail is easily missed in platforms that do not have X’s Community Notes feature, as could be seen in the comments section of CBS News Sacramento’s YouTube video about the incident.
Watch CBS’s coverage of the incident in the video below. Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to admin@webdeva.in to give us a heads up.
X’s Community Notes makes quick work of misleading “Tesla fire” report Comments
