Before you send Elon Musk a Tweet, you should know that Tesla does not build a version of the Model X with a one-catpower drivetrain. It is not another one of the company’s clever Easter eggs, either. As it turns out, a kitten found its way behind the rear bumper and couldn’t find its way out. The owner couldn’t remove the bumper on his own, so he drove to the nearest service center and asked for help.
We would love to read the repair order; “customer states car makes cat-like noises.” A technician confirmed the presence of a small, furry, and presumably terrified creature trapped in the back of the car. Extracting it required putting the Model X on a lift and unbolting the rear underbody panel, which Tesla installs on all of its models to make them more aerodynamic and, consequently, more efficient.
An opening in the plastic part gave the kitten its first sight of daylight in about 14 hours, but it was too scared to jump out on its own. Wearing thick gloves, the technician had to reach in the car’s belly and pull the kitten out. The entire operation took less than a minute.
There is no word on exactly how the kitten wound up behind the bumper of a Tesla X. Anyone who has ever owned a cat will testify that they are crafty and flexible, so anything is possible. Regardless, this story has a happy ending: One of the technicians working at the service center immediately decided to give the cat a new home.
