Automotive journalism has never had particularly high standards, relative to other disciplines, and things only got worse in general when the web "democratized" journalism, and allowed anyone with a pulse to be widely published without any training, standards, or editorial oversight.
What this piece will do is help generate clicks, and ad impressions for the site. IIRC this is the same site that has been linked here before, and had its shenanigans noted.
What it doesn't do is apply critical thinking to the circumstances. This is neither a right-to-repair issue, nor unique or exclusive to Tesla, or BEVs in general.
It's a shadetree repair (for $700?!) that most here could probably do, in response to the classic "they don't sell that part separately" situation one is eventually bound to run into when fixing cars or other stuff. As an alternative solution to an OE-only part whose cost strongly discourages a mindless swap, but yet, is the only prescribed solution that the OEM offers. Hardly a Tesla-only thing.
In this situation, it happens to be a costly battery pack module, but it could also similarly apply to a transmission, body subframe or other major component. On a smaller scale, it could something like one of the litany of heat exchangers that fill every nook and cranny in the front end of a modern forced-induction vehicle. Cracked fitting on a radiator? Yep, you'll also be getting a new oil cooler as well, because they're part of the same module. A broken gear in the electric seat adjuster? "That will be a new motor assembly, sir." BMW owners know that one well.
"Repair" has mostly become a euphemism for parts swapping, because that's how things are mostly designed now, and for some time. And it can suck big time when something expensive breaks, because nobody does minor, component-level repair any longer (especially when it comes to electronics). News at 11. But just like during sweeps, add some spice, and throw "Tesla" into the teaser as well, to get more viewers.
Plus, as noted already, damage from hitting a piece of stationary road debris one could have conceivably avoided would be a claim on a collision policy, not a comprehensive policy. Highly doubtful that the rock, or whatever broke that fitting, leapt into that driver's path, or was ejected from underground.
What this piece will do is help generate clicks, and ad impressions for the site. IIRC this is the same site that has been linked here before, and had its shenanigans noted.
What it doesn't do is apply critical thinking to the circumstances. This is neither a right-to-repair issue, nor unique or exclusive to Tesla, or BEVs in general.
It's a shadetree repair (for $700?!) that most here could probably do, in response to the classic "they don't sell that part separately" situation one is eventually bound to run into when fixing cars or other stuff. As an alternative solution to an OE-only part whose cost strongly discourages a mindless swap, but yet, is the only prescribed solution that the OEM offers. Hardly a Tesla-only thing.
In this situation, it happens to be a costly battery pack module, but it could also similarly apply to a transmission, body subframe or other major component. On a smaller scale, it could something like one of the litany of heat exchangers that fill every nook and cranny in the front end of a modern forced-induction vehicle. Cracked fitting on a radiator? Yep, you'll also be getting a new oil cooler as well, because they're part of the same module. A broken gear in the electric seat adjuster? "That will be a new motor assembly, sir." BMW owners know that one well.
"Repair" has mostly become a euphemism for parts swapping, because that's how things are mostly designed now, and for some time. And it can suck big time when something expensive breaks, because nobody does minor, component-level repair any longer (especially when it comes to electronics). News at 11. But just like during sweeps, add some spice, and throw "Tesla" into the teaser as well, to get more viewers.
Plus, as noted already, damage from hitting a piece of stationary road debris one could have conceivably avoided would be a claim on a collision policy, not a comprehensive policy. Highly doubtful that the rock, or whatever broke that fitting, leapt into that driver's path, or was ejected from underground.