Five teens survived a horrific crash in a Tesla Model S in Pullach, Germany, that left the electric car absolutely wrecked. It’s one of those times that “highlights the importance of a large crumple zone ,” according to Electrek . It seems that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has now gained a practical reason to be confident about Tesla’s safety record.
While @TeslaMotors will take you on a nice 82+ ft flight in the air, a @BMW will remain safely glued to the road. https://t.co/fuG8R32icx
— faisal sultan (@friskygeek) May 7, 2016
Among them was an 18-year-old girl who took her father’s Tesla Model S to tear about with her four friends, all around the age of 18 to 19. She was driving at “excessive speed” and lost control on a turn, hit a ramp off-road, and launched the car 82-foot (25 meters) up in the air before crashing into a field and rolling at least once. Somehow, they were all able to exit the wrecked Tesla Model S without help, although their injuries were described as “serious, but not life-threatening.” They were then transported via helicopter to the nearest hospital upon arrival of paramedics.
The pictures by German newspaper Merkur are quite telling of what the crash has wrought and how lucky the teenagers were to get out of it alive. The front end of the Tesla Model S is completely destroyed while the body itself remained mostly intact, which is definitely how the teens survived this incredibly unfortunate accident.
Perhaps the fact that they were joyriding in a Tesla Model S and not something else was what kept them alive. In most front-engine cars, the engine could have put more pressure on the cabin upon impact, serving to crush it further. However, with the lack of an engine in front of the electric Tesla Model S, its front end served as a big crumple zone that absorbed the kinetic energy from the impact, thus effectively saving the lives of the people inside.
Upon hearing the news, Elon Musk expressed his relief on Twitter regarding the fate of the teenagers.
@hansmikael @TeslaMotors Thank goodness all are ok
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2016
Elon Musk has been known to talk about the car’s crumple zone and its effect in a crash by comparing it to diving into a pool.
“It’s just like jumping into a pool from a high diving board — you want a deep pool and one without rocks in it.”
The height from which the Tesla Model S launched from is indeed frightening, especially at high speed, making the survival of its passengers seem even more incredible. As for how the car achieved such air, the ramp from which it launched tells the story.
The Tesla Model S was launched on June 22, 2012 to a good bit of fanfare among car enthusiasts and fans of the revolutionary electric car design of the company. Tesla had since ramped up production of the Model S up to 1,000 cars a week in 2015. Meanwhile, its successor the Tesla Model 3—the company’s first mass-production vehicle—had racked up over $10 billion in pre-ordersduring the first 36 hours, making it a massive hit, as reported here in the Inquisitr.
While the Tesla Model 3 is still a long way away from its actual launch, the Tesla Model S seems to be making more good news for the electric automobile company. While unfortunate that the teenagers had to face such an accident, it does show how safe the Tesla Model S can be.
[Photo by Sabine Hermsdorf/Merkur]
