Elon Musk anger? Police probe Tesla car fire at London shopping mall

By: Dale Carruthers

LONDON, ONT. — The smell of burned rubber lingered in the air outside London’s Masonville Place mall Tuesday morning after a Tesla car was set ablaze in its parking lot hours earlier.

A worker loaded the damaged electric vehicle onto a flatbed truck and swept up charred debris that littered the ground after firefighters were called at about 11:30 p.m. Monday to the north London mall and doused the blaze, London Fire Department officials say.

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Police were assisting the fire department in the investigation, a police spokesperson said Tuesday.

“The investigation is in its early stages at this time,” Sgt. Sandasha Bough said.

The damaged model S, a sedan that retails for between $114,990 and $135,990, was parked in a spot reserved for the half-dozen vehicles available for test drive at a showroom inside the mall.

The bulk of the damage to the vehicle appeared to be near the passenger-side rear wheel.

A Tesla employee in the showroom declined to comment and directed all inquiries to the company’s media division.

The American electric vehicle maker opened a 242-square-metre showroom in Masonville Place mall in December. A 4,645-square-metre service facility at Wonderland Road and Bradley Avenue is nearing completion.

Tesla, the global automaker owned by Elon Musk, has landed in protesters’ and vandals’ crosshairs in recent months. Dealerships, vehicles and charging stations across Canada, the U.S. and Europe have been targeted.

Anger at the electric-vehicle maker stems from Musk’s ties to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump administration and his role leading its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The department has slashed the U.S. federal workforce and cut funding and grants in its quest to reduce government spending.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi recently announced an investigation into Tesla vandalism cases.

“If you’re going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything, you better watch out, because we’re coming after you,” Bondi said.

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