This article is from the archive of our partner .
If it seems like nothing fazes Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk—not three Model S fires in six weeks, a federal investigation into the incidents, nor the automaker’s sliding stock—it may be because his customers have his back. The automaker’s luxury electric sports sedan took the top spot today in Consumer Reports’s annual owner-satisfaction survey, with the Model S scoring 99 out of 100 possible points and beating out Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
“In testing, the Model S stands out for its innovative design, outstanding performance, and surprising practicality,” Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’s director of automotive testing, said in a statement. “These results suggest Tesla owners are very, very satisfied.”
It also suggests that Tesla customers—at least the 600 who responded to the survey—have developed an Apple-like loyalty to the Silicon Valley automaker and its sleek, high-tech cars. That has helped the company emerge thus far unscathed from the intense media attention focused on two Model S vehicles that recently caught fire. (Their drivers ran over metallic objects that pierced the cars’ lithium-ion battery pack.) A third Model went up in flames in Mexico when its driver crashed through a concrete wall.