One could be tempted to insert an Autopilot joke here, being a Tesla and all, but such a serious accident is no laughing matter.
An 18-year old girl in Germany was driving her father’s Model S when, as Merkur newspaper reports, she lost control in a corner due to excessive speed.
The car went airborne for at least 80 feet and flipped, before eventually landing on its wheels. Amazingly, the driver and her four friends, all aged between 18 and 19, survived the accident and were able to get out of the car, though they had suffered injuries and had to be taken to the hospital.
Elon Musk himself tweeted “Thank goodness all are OK”, while Electrec.co pointed out “the importance of large crumple zones” and posted an image of the Model S that was wiped out in the accident.
The use of much more compact electric motors, situated low in the chassis, instead of a big conventional internal combustion engine surely liberates lots of extra room that could prove useful in absorbing kinetic energy. One should bear in mind that every accident is unique, though, before jumping into conclusions. Like Musk said, thank Goodness everyone walked out of this one.
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