A Tesla vehicle has exploded just hours after the driver criticised Elon Musk, in an incident that police are treating as suspicious.

Rupert Coffey, 46, posted several tweets criticising Elon Musk in regards to his behaviour on social media and also accused him of blatant manipulation of the cryptocurrency market.

‘If @ElonMusk manipulated the stock market the way he does the cryptocurrency market, he’d be investigated and jailed for his crimes,’ tweeted Mr Coffey, clearly unaware that rich people don’t go to jail.

Mr Coffey was an investor in Bitcoin, which has suffered a significant price crash in recent weeks. Some have attributed the crash to Elon Musk pulling out of Bitcoin payments at Tesla.

Just hours after making those tweets, Mr Coffey decided to take a drive into town. It was then that the Tesla blew up in a spectacular fireball. Rupert Coffey was declared dead at the scene. No other driver was harmed.

The timing of the explosion is seen as suspicious, although Elon Musk denies any wrongdoing.

‘I was too busy pumping and dumping Dogecoin at the time,’ he told us.