This used Tesla Model S is the cheapest way into the electric car market

The BYD Dolphin is Australia’s cheapest new electric car, with a sticker price of $38,890 before on-road costs. But it’s not the cheapest way into an electric car…

That honour could well belong to this crispy Tesla Model S, which has been listed on Pickles Auctions.

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s slightly fire damaged – so badly fire damaged in fact, Pickles describes its colour as “Burnt”. The listing also rather optimistically describes the charred Model S as a “Hatchback”.

It’s not clear what caused the fire, but it has consumed the entire body, interior, and suspension setup. It’s easy to understand how the Model S ended up so charred, however, if it was a battery fire.

Electric car battery fires are incredibly hard to put out when they hit a “thermal runaway” event, where damaged lithium-ion battery modules generate so much heat in a chemical reaction the fire becomes incredibly intense, in some cases taking days to put out.

It’s also unclear if Tesla told this owner to tow their burning vehicle to a service centre for a checkup, although it does have form in that area.

The charred remains of this Model S will go to auction on June 29.

What would you pay?