This Sure Looks Like the First Fatal Tesla Cybertruck Crash
There has been a lot of talk about the Tesla Cybertruck’s stainless steel body. Some have speculated that its rigidity and shape could present a significant danger to other drivers in a crash, but the first reported fatality in a Cybertruck accident was the person behind the Tesla’s wheel.
The crash happened in Texas when the driver lost control of the Tesla and ran into a concrete culvert. A fire started after the crash, and the driver died at the scene. Texas state troopers are investigating the cause of the crash, but images of the crash make it clear that no one could’ve survived the incident. The fire left so little of the truck intact that troopers said they could not identify a VIN or license plate.
The Cybertruck hasn’t been evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but Tesla has said that it expects the truck to perform similarly to its other vehicles, which have earned Top Safety Pick awards in recent years.
Electric vehicles don’t catch fire any more frequently than gas vehicles do, but first responders have a whole different animal on their hands when they combust. The battery cells can experience thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that makes EV fires extremely difficult to extinguish. Even if the driver had been able to make it out of the truck, the fire burned so hot and violently that the vehicle would have been a goner either way.
[Images: KHOU News Video, Tesla]
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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.
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