Launching your watercraft is always stressful. There’s the challenge of backing up a trailer, the jeopardy of doing that with an expensive piece of equipment behind you, and the added spice of reversing towards a large body of water. However, a couple in Hollywood, Florida, learned that things can get a whole lot more stressful than that when their Tesla Model X slipped into the water.
The incident occurred last month, when the driver of the Model X was attempting to launch a jet ski into the water. According to a video posted to YouTube, the jet ski did get away, but things started going haywire in the EV.
An unidentified individual in the video asserts that the woman driving the Model X became trapped inside the vehicle after purported warning messages began appearing on the dashboard. Subsequently, her husband, who was on a jet ski, came to her aid and assisted her out of the car.
Read: Oh, No! Honda CR-V Takes A Plunge In Boat Launch Gone Horribly Wrong
It’s unclear at what point the Model X started sliding into the water, but the Hollywood Professional Firefighters report that the vehicle “lost traction and slid into the inter-coastal.” It says that the salt water then reacted with the electronics, causing them to short, and sparking a fire that burned for an “extended period of time.”
“The fire was allowed to burn underwater until it extinguished itself,” Hollywood Professional Firefighters wrote on Facebook. “And even then, it had to be loaded carefully onto a special carrier, and followed by the Fire Engine to the impound lot, where they’ll keep the vehicle isolated for a few days in the very real possibility of re-ignition.”
As highlighted by Jalopnik, thankfully, despite the unusual combination of dangers, including the risk of fire and a vehicle submerging underwater, everyone managed to evacuate the Model X in time, and there were no reported injuries.
Although this could have happened to any EV, it’s worth remembering what fate befell this Tesla the next time Elon Musk says that his vehicles can be used as a boat.