Tesla explodes after crash on Russian highway – TechCrunch

A Tesla vehicle involved in a collision burst into flames and exploded on a freeway near Moscow yesterday, local media reported. Residents were slightly injured, but the car is shaken.

The model of the car is not clear from the reporting, but appears to be either a Model S or Model 3. It was driven by a 41-year-old Russian man, who had his children with him. He allegedly employed a driver's assist function (but not necessarily Autopilot) and had his hands on the steering wheel as he crashed into a tow truck in the left lane.

The driver broke his legs and the children escaped with only bruises, Reuters reported, but the car was not so lucky. Shortly after the crash, the car caught fire, and shortly thereafter a couple of explosions occurred in the body, which apparently caught (I could not directly confirm this) in the following video posted by someone in the traffic going in the other direction: [1[ads1]9659004] Firefighters soon came and put out the flames. The circumstances of this crash are still unclear, and it will undoubtedly be an investigation, as there are too serious problems like this. I have asked Tesla for more details and will update this post if I hear back.

While cars crash and catch fire on a fairly regular basis, Teslas has a rare but recurring problem of bursting into flames after a crash, or even spontaneously. The unique dangers of battery-based vehicles are of course interesting, but the sensational nature of reports around them can also give a false idea of ​​these dangers. Tesla cars are in crashes about as often as other vehicles, but fires are rare.

Whether Autopilot was involved is also unclear. The driver assistance mode used by the driver may simply have been cruise control or similar, and the driver told papers that he did not notice the tow truck. Until several facts are known, speculation is fruitless.