A Pilbara man who recently lost his Tesla to the ocean swell says he feels let down by the community, after nobody came to his rescue despite several community Facebook posts.
Nick Samson, 43, watched tearfully as his Tesla Model Y was pulled into the waves off Hearson Cove last month, after mistakenly believing his six-figure e-vehicle was even close to being an off-roader.
Despite its large body shape and all-wheel-drive drivetrain, the Tesla soon became bogged in the moist sand at the popular Karratha beach.
“I was taken in by it being big, like a Porsche but without the stuff that people like about Porsches like the badge or the engine or the brakes or the heritage,” Mr Samson told The Bugle.
“Just looking at it, I’d presumed it was capable of taking on anything – even the promotional shot has it driving on sand!”
In his defence, official Tesla promotional material does show the Y as being sand-capable. Though presumably if that sand has been studiously prepared for a promotional image and has the consistency of asphalt.
Mr Samson, who hit the sand with his tyres at a rock-solid 45 PSI, revealed he had been warned by locals as he approached the beach on-ramp, one of whom cautioned “You go down there and you’re going to look like a total fuckwit”.
But he persisted, confident that his China-made, mostly-plastic handbag wagon was up to the job. He soon discovered it was not.
“It made it down to the shoreline alright, though now I am thinking that might have mostly just been the momentum carrying it there,” Mr Samson said.
“But after I stopped to get a few photos of me and the car, you know, leaning against the frunk, looking out to the ocean, pairing it with an Instagram caption like ‘E-lectric, e-verywhere’ but probably a bit more wanky if you gave me a moment.
“When I went to pull away, the sand was up to the bloody floor and no amount of slamming on the accelerator was able to get me out.”
Late in the afternoon and with the tide beginning to turn, Mr Samson admitted he was by then starting to feel a touch nervy.
Jumping on the local community Facebook page, he put out a call-to-action, urgently seeking a local with a winch. Can pay $100 cash.
“Bloody hell the replies weren’t friendly. They called me every name under the sun: wanker, wank stain, cum badger, baby penis, e-arsehole, fuckstain, arsebandit, knob gobbler, fudge packer, wand sucker, pole smoker, Charlie and the chocolate cock in his mouth factory.
“People just don’t understand these are top-of-the-line technology. They should pay it respect.
“It *is* a Tesla, after all.”
