Tesla Bursts Into Flames After "Violent Crash" In Switzerland, Killing Driver Trapped [Archive]

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Twisted Titan

15th May 2018, 02:52 AM

Tesla Bursts Into Flames After "Violent Crash" In Switzerland, Killing Driver Trapped Inside
https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/picture-5.jpg?itok=LY4e264- (https://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)
by Tyler Durden (https://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)
Mon, 05/14/2018 - 23:35

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When it rains, it pours, or in the case of Tesla, it bursts in flames.

In the same week in which a Tesla Model S erupted in flames after a "horrific" crash in Ft. Lauderdale (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-09/tesla-model-s-bursts-flames-after-horrific-crash-killing-two-men-trapped-inside), fatally trapping the two teenagers who died inside, while a second Model S rammed a stopped Salt Lake City firetruck (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-13/tesla-model-s-autopilot-slams-fire-truck-60mph-another-key-exec-departs)at 60mph, mercifully without any fatalities, the Swiss tio.ch reports that yet another Tesla burst into flames after crashing on the A2 highway near the town of Bellinzona, killing a 48-year-old German driver who was trapped inside.

https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/telsa%20swiss%20fire.jpg
According to the Swiss publication, the driver, a 48-year-old German motorist from Baden-Wurtermberg, lost control of the vehicle a few meters after the Monte Ceneri tunnel, crashing into the central guardrail, an accident that was remarkably similar to an October 2017 crash in Austria (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-18/tesla-model-s-burns-down-after-accident-austria), in which a Model S also burned down, however without any fatalities.

The car then overturned and caught fire, fatally trapping the driver.

https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/tesla%20burning%20swiss.jpg

According to the Facebook page of the Bellinzona fire department (https://www.facebook.com/pompieribellinzona/photos/a.959966124061977.1073741828.954866297905293/1746687012056547/?type=3&theater), the flames were once again started by the lithium-ion batteries after the crash. The Fire department explains that "the violent impact of Lithium Ion Batteries could probably have caused a phenomenon called "thermal runaway", i.e, a rapid and unstoppable increase in temperature."

https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/tesla%20italy%20fire.jpg
It's unclear if the car had its autopilot engaged at the moment of the crash, although now that both the NTSB and NHTSA are looking to last week's tragic Tesla crash which killed two young men under similar circumstances, we are confident the answer will be available soon.

And yet, Matt Schwall, won't be there the reveal it: as we reported yesterday (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-13/tesla-model-s-autopilot-slams-fire-truck-60mph-another-key-exec-departs), Schwall, the Tesla exec who until last week had been Tesla's "primary technical contact" with both the NTSB & NHTSA, resigned quietly and moved to Tesla's competitor Waymo. Commenting on this departure, we wondered if it suggests that the "company's troubles with government regulators may be set to escalate."

Judging by the trio of crashes in just one week, two of which fatal, we are willing to go on a limb here and answer "yes."

Twisted Titan

15th May 2018, 02:53 AM

best comment of the thread..............

I hope to F that the suicide terrorists don’t start driving those puppies.

Ares

15th May 2018, 04:35 AM

Lithium Ion Batteries are too volatile for vehicles (In my humble opinion.) Laptops, cellphones etc. They do well at. But requiring enough energy to safely store to be able to move a 5,000+lb vehicle daily is a whole different animal altogether.

Electric vehicles still aren't practical and it has more to do with the electrical energy storage medium used.

Neuro

15th May 2018, 06:46 AM

Lithium burns when in contact with air. If it comes in contact with water it creates hydrogen which may explode if it is hot enough. In these days it is surprising that people are allowed to bring it on airliners... I wasn’t allowed to bring on a pound of butter last month. The airport security claimed it was a liquid...

midnight rambler

15th May 2018, 07:42 AM

Neuro

15th May 2018, 08:05 AM

What's fascinating is that Tesla says when one of their cars is on fire the fire dept. should "put lots of water on it."

Possibly a good idea if the batteries protective barrier isn’t breached.

Ares

15th May 2018, 08:26 AM

Possibly a good idea if the batteries protective barrier isn’t breached.

Agreed as it should rapidly cool the batteries since they are already hot at that point.

madfranks

15th May 2018, 08:41 AM

Neuro

16th May 2018, 01:56 AM

The only reason Tesla gets away with this madness is the government is on his side, because they're all virtue signalling how "green" they are and how much they "care about the earth." If a standard combustion engine car melted into a blaze of fire when it crashed, no way in hell it would ever be allowed, at least not in the US.
True! However the greenies have decided that the ultimate carbon saving is premature human death. Those who burn up in a Tesla will not get a new battery, so it is a win-win!

Neuro

16th May 2018, 02:28 AM

Agreed as it should rapidly cool the batteries since they are already hot at that point.

The problem is to know if the battery is broken... If it is, I suppose, the fire is unstoppable anyway, however a hydrogen explosion may kill or injure the firemen trying to put the fire out. If it isn’t you’ll probably stop the fire by cooling the battery.

Ares

16th May 2018, 04:44 AM

The problem is to know if the battery is broken... If it is, I suppose, the fire is unstoppable anyway, however a hydrogen explosion may kill or injure the firemen trying to put the fire out. If it isn’t you’ll probably stop the fire by cooling the battery.

Yep. its difficult to know in that situation and I definitely would not want to be a fire fighter tasked with putting out a Lithium Ion battery fire as I wouldn't know if the protective barrier is breached or not, especially if it's like a fire that is in OPs picture. If the barrier is gone, you risk the lithium ion cells inside being so hot to be able to separate Oxygen from Hydrogen resulting in actually feeding the fire instead of trying to squelch it.

Horn

17th May 2018, 01:43 PM

The only reason Tesla gets away with this madness is the government is on his side, because they're all virtue signalling how "green" they are

A question that gives pause:

If Solar And Wind Are So Cheap, Why Are They Making Electricity So Expensive?

https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fmichaelshellenberger%2Ffiles%2 F2018%2F04%2FGermanyApril2018.003.jpg

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/05/16/a-question-that-gives-pause-if-solar-and-wind-are-so-cheap-why-are-they-making-electricity-so-expensive/