Tesla Raises Model S Ground Clearance Wirelessly – Says It's Not About Safety

While maintaining it has nothing to do with safety, Tesla TSLA CEO Elon Musk said in a blog post Monday the company had rolled out an over-the-air update to the company’s Model S sedan that would result in greater ground clearance at highway speeds.

According to Musk, the move would reduce the chance of “underbody impact damage.” He added that another software update in January would give drivers control over suspension ride height adjustment.

The wireless push came within hours of an announced investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into recent Model S fires, according to Wired. In the blog post Musk said the company “requested that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conduct a full investigation as soon as possible into the fire incidents,” a claim the NHTSA denied.

Instead, the government agency told the Los Angeles Times, “In regards to Tesla, the agency notified the automaker of its plans to open a formal investigation and requested their cooperation, which is standard agency practice for all investigations.”

Related: Elon Musk Wants Tesla Electric Truck to Compete with Ford F150

In the blog post and elsewhere Musk has continued to fight what he considers unfair media treatment regarding Tesla and fires.

“Reading the headlines,” Musk wrote, “it is therefore easy to assume that the Tesla Model S and perhaps electric cars in general have a greater propensity to catch fire than gasoline cars when nothing could be further from the truth.”

At the same time, Tesla beefed up the warranty on all vehicles to “cover damage due to a fire, even if due to driver error.” Musk explained the action by saying, “Our goal here is to eliminate any concern about the cost of such an event and ensure that over time the Model S has the lowest insurance cost of any car at our price point.”

Meanwhile, the three steps taken by Tesla - increasing ground clearance, calling for an NHTSA investigation (specifics about who initiated the probe notwithstanding) , and amending the warranty – resulted in a 3.7 percent bounce in share value at the end of trading Tuesday. Tesla stock closed at $126.09, up $4.51.

Share prices, however, have a ways to go before returning to the $193 high of this past September. Tuesday’s bump was seen as a mostly positive sign that investors are pleased with the company’s response to the latest developments.

At the time of this writing, Jim Probasco had no position in any mentioned securities.