They are having more accidents than other electric cars (3 vs 0), and it certainly seems that having four times as much battery power, and lining the base with them, is the problem.

There's nice spin you could put on this, which is likely true: people who have Teslas drive them more, because they are fun, cool, excellent - and have 4 times the range and power. Secondly, with more power, you will drive faster, hence greater likelihood of accident, and of greater severity.

But Tesla's gotta fix this. For PR reasons, and to be making a great car. There's always going to be unforeseen problems with new tech, the only issue is how you handle it.

It's a bit of a shame though: low slung batteries give low center of gravity and great handling and stability. Thicker armour adds unnecessary weight. Perhaps armour that deflects rather than stops? Perhaps a different failure mode for the batteries; built-in extinguishers? (i.e. the issue is fire, not car damage. Ideally, solve both).