If it were not for professional matters, I would probably never open Twitter. It is the social media to pick a fight almost by definition. That is perhaps also the case of Jayakrishna Balaji Simma. He identified there only as Balaji Simma and found another reason to be on Twitter: try to talk to Elon Musk. By now, he has probably regretted it already: when he decided to show a weird incident with his brand new Tesla Model 3, he was viciously attacked. Simma claims the right rear door glass shattered by itself with a video.
It can be seen above and also in his original tweet, right below. Pay careful attention to it at around 7 seconds.
It was all it took for Tesla supporters to viciously attack him as a FUDster. Some claim the video was badly edited. Others say no surveillance video records sound. There are even the ones that say the Twitter account is fake because it has very little activity. Simma reaches a point in which he has to defend himself.
We have tried to contact him through direct messaging on Twitter to learn more about his story. Perhaps get pictures of the shattered glass, of the door that lost that glass and anything else that could help us understand his claims. He did not get back to us so far.
We have then tried to reach him by other means. Who is Balaji Simma? We have searched his name on Google. Like the tweet shows, he lives in San Diego, California. In other words, he is real.
More Tesla Issues:
While he was trying to defend himself, other people showed similar issues with Tesla vehicles. This one was with a Model X.
In the Tesla Model 3 Facebook group, Ameya Amritwar reported this with his Model 3:
This is how he described the issue:
“Broke through the glass ceiling !!!! Glass ceiling just blew out while driving Tesla ‘emergency’ representative reached after 25 minute wait time , stated it is not covered by any roadside assistance , 200$ for tow. Luckily covered in part by insurance. Anyone had this experience before?”
We have also tried to reach Amritwar but did not hear back from him so far.
This is not the first glass issue involving a Tesla that we report. In January, we have shown a severe Model X leak on the A-pillar. With the help of Chad Hrencecin, from “The Electrified Garage,” and also from George Catalin Marinescu, from "Doctor Tesla," we found out it was a common assembly issue. Many Model S owners also complain about pressure buffeting. Are these cases related?
As the tweet above states, the glass shattering could have been caused by the air pressure in Amritwar’s case and by a misaligned door in Simma’s situation. It seems that, despite the video frameskip, these Model 3 owners would have no reason to lie. If you know them, ask them to get in touch with us so we can tell their stories. If you are aware of similar cases, please tell us about them as well.
UPDATE
Simma and Amritwar got in touch with us. Simma asked us to remove his professional information from the text and said Tesla already solved the issue with his car under warranty. In other words, and despite the accusations he suffered, Tesla acknowledged the problem and gave it the proper treatment. We are glad to report the company was very upfront in his case.
Amritwar is still waiting for Tesla to get in touch with him and we intend to write a complete article on what happened with his car. If you work at Tesla and can help him get this sorted, please do so. The sooner, the better.