A 53-year-old man has died after crashing his Tesla Model S at high speed in the town of Baarn in the Netherlands.
According to local Dutch media outlet RTV NH, the electric sedan caught fire immediately after the impact and by the time fire crews arrived on the scene, the driver is believed to have already been killed.
Due to the severity of the crash, local firefighters had difficulty in initially extinguishing the fire without being electrocuted.
According to firefighter spokesman Ronald Boer, “If the car was on four wheels, the fire brigade normally has no difficulty to turn off the batteries. However, this car is completely destroyed, hampering the recovery. In this situation, you never know what can happen.”
It is thought that some of the battery modules from the vehicle’s floor pan fell from the battery pack and caught fire, thus causing the aforementioned difficulties. Consequently, employees from Tesla were dispatched to the scene and advised the fire department how to salvage the body without being electrocuted.
Tesla has confirmed that it has launched an investigation into the accident and will release further information when it discovers all the facts.
Dodelijke crash met Tesla Model S in Baarn https://t.co/tGamc3cC4X pic.twitter.com/90SketilZP— Autoblog (@autoblog) September 7, 2016
Mannen van batterij-receycling gaan ter plaatse om accu's van #Teslacrash te bergen #Baarn pic.twitter.com/QEvTNwehSP— chrisververs (@chrisververs) September 7, 2016
Images via Autoblog and Chris Ververs
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