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Third Tesla Model S Car Fire Reported

The company stresses that the third car fire reported since early October was the result of an accident near Nashville, but Tesla stock still fell.
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Another car fire in just over a month has analysts calling Tesla one of the hottest companies out there in more ways than one.

"Another Model S electric car has caught on fire. This is a picture of it posted on Twitter. It happened yesterday just outside of Nashville. The company says it was caused by a crash and was not spontaneous." (Via KTVU)

It marks the third Model S car fire since early October. This is video of the first blaze, and Tesla says all three fires followed accidents. (Via YouTube / Aj Gill)

Tesla stressed that point and immediately started damage control, with CEO Elon Musk telling ValueWalk:

"For consumers concerned about fire risk, there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery than a large tank of highly flammable liquid."

The electric car fires haven't helped the company's incredible stock performances. (Via YouTube / MotorTrend)

Tesla's stock dipped to around $138 late Thursday morning, down more than $40 a share from just two days prior. (Via Yahoo!)

But some analysts say the fires alone aren't to blame for that steep drop.

"I think the car fire is a sideshow. The real story is this thing is down 25 percent since they reported on Tuesday afternoon, and that's because they under-delivered on the number of cars that they were actually able to ship." (Via MSNBC)

Keep in mind that this time last year, Tesla's stock stood at just $31.

So yeah, we'd take that ... as long as the cars — and the stock — don't go up in flames.