Tesla Door Handles Reportedly to Blame After Deadly Model S Crash in Germany
U.S. regulators are investigating Tesla’s retractable door handles, but police in Germany are investigating a deadly crash that killed two children and the driver. Witnesses were reportedly unable to open the doors to save the car’s occupants, though one child was able to escape.
The incident happened in early September in Germany, when a Tesla Model S veered off the road and caught fire. People who witnessed the crash ran to help, but were unable to get into the car.
One person said, “I just took the fire extinguisher and ran over. But… it didn’t help. I wanted to save people. I tried to open the car, but that didn’t work either. It was already so hot from the fire, but the right side of the car was still relatively undamaged. Damn it, I didn’t help. It didn’t work. The car was half hanging in a tree at head height and was burning at the front. But you just couldn’t get it open, I wanted to pull the children out.”
Firefighters struggled to extinguish the flames because they kept reigniting, a common problem with EV battery fires that enter thermal runaway. While the investigation into Tesla’s door handles just started, the automaker has said it would revise the design to incorporate physical and electronic latches to prevent the problems going forward.
[Images: Tesla]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
More by Chris Teague
Comments
Join the conversation
You couldn't break the windows with the fire extinguisher you were holding?
Locked in an incinerator. Sad.