Elon Musk is obsessive about the design of his supercars, right down to the disappearing door handles. But a series of shocking incidents – from drivers trapped in burning vehicles to dramatic stops on the highway – have led to questions about the safety of the brand. Why won’t Tesla give any answers?

The car came to rest more than 70 metres away, on the opposite side of the road, leaving a trail of wreckage. According to witnesses, the Model S burst into flames while still airborne. Several passersby tried to open the doors and rescue the driver, but they couldn’t unlock the car. When they heard explosions and saw flames through the windows, they retreated. Even the firefighters, who arrived 20 minutes later, could do nothing but watch the Tesla burn.

At that moment, Rita Meier was unaware of the crash. She tried calling her husband, but he didn’t pick up. When he still hadn’t returned her call hours later – highly unusual for this devoted father – she attempted to track his car using Tesla’s app. It no longer worked. By the time police officers rang her doorbell late that night, Meier was already bracing for the worst.

  • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    36·
    6 hours ago

    Several passersby tried to open the doors and rescue the driver, but they couldn’t unlock the car.

    Even the firefighters, who arrived 20 minutes later, could do nothing but watch the Tesla burn.

    Did no one think to break open the windows?

    • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.ukEnglish
      11·
      6 hours ago

      Yes, that must be it… they didn’t think to break a window.

      Many modern cars use laminated glass on their side windows now and, as far as I’m aware, this model has doors that won’t open from the outside without power, making them very difficult to break open without tools even when the vehicle isn’t on fire. 20 minutes in to the Tesla burning, when it was already sitting on top of a bomb of a battery… you’re beyond fucked at that point. Difficult to just put the fire out for responders, a rescue was over about 15 minutes prior.

      • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        12·
        4 hours ago

        Thanks for serving a side of snark while teaching others.

        I fucking hate cars, so this is a shit design feature (coming from a design engineer myself).

        • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.ukEnglish
          2·
          3 hours ago

          All the best lessons come with some sass, but on a serious note, I’d hate to think of how someone who had powerlessly watched a person burn to death would feel about seeing people second guess their actions. You would feel awful enough already.

          Laminated windows are great for a lot of things (e.g. sound dampening), getting in to/out of the vehicle rapidly is definitely not one of them. The inability to unlock without power is just a chefs kiss though, obviously.