The Tesla roadster goes from 0 to 60 in 3.9-seconds (
by December anyway) and costs $100,000 if you're lucky enough to get dibs on the 10 or so electric cars delivered so far. Come to find out, it also goes from 30 to 0 in a nausea-filled second when ground to a halt of twisted carbon-fiber beneath a Mercedes. The image above was snapped by Alex Volkov at the scene of a Friday evening accident in San Francisco. Of course, this isn't the first
wrecked Tesla we've seen. According to
Fortune, ousted co-founder Martin Eberhard suffered further distress when his Tesla rear-ended a truck en route for delivery to Eberhard's home. While the cause of the new accident isn't official, a few eye-witnesses said that Tesla #6 -- driven and owned by an unidentified man -- had gone "unnoticed" as it went "bumper-to-bumper between the cars." Interestingly enough, the
Tesla's air-bags never deployed. One thing seems obvious: we expect to see more crashes from the silent, ultra-low-profile Tesla street-racer as it attempts to compete for space on roads dominated by SUVs, Hummers, and Testosterone.
Read -- SF Tesla Crash
Read -- Fortune
posted Jul 29th 2008 4:55AM
wow what a waste.
Talk about bad mileage...
Well, looks like the Tesla driver is a fault here as he's hit someone from behind - that's normally a open shut case of following too closely. Unless he was hit from behind into the Merc then its a different case.
Wonder if Tesla is like Ferrari and drop people down the waiting list for new vehicles if you crash one of their cars?
I love the design of these/lotus cars.
Yet I can just imagine the thousands of AA sized batteries that get launched if this car is in a major wreck, which I doubt would happen because they are in a secure container...
But then again I could be wrong! ;)
As I've heard the report, he was rear-ended into the car in front of him.
FORGET TESLA...
I'll stick with my S550 Mercedes Benz.
Look how much damage was done to the Benz wherein the Tesla was totaled.
Yeah, the resale value of that Benz just went to shit, too. I wouldn't buy it if the vehicle history showed that it had to get the whole rear end replaced because of an accident.
Anyways, I drive a Mercedes, and still think the Tesla is bad ass... and I still want a car like this someday! That being said, I'd still wait and let the early adopters work out all the kinks if I were seriously in the market...
The "lighting" is much nicer. Thats my c280 benz. :(
Fyi, its just bumper damage on the benz.
The resale value of the Benz dropped?
Sarcasm: Nothing says "beautiful, reliable used car with a great resale value" like a 90's Mercedes.
yes, the resale value of any car drops after its been in an accident, regardless of who caused the accident. The point is the car has been damaged... and far too often, cars never ride the same after a major repair, unfortunately.
But I was more responding to Flashpoint talking about how barely anything happened to the Mercedes. And being someone who owns a Mercedes, I can assure all of you there there are no such things as "minor" repairs on a Mercedes. lol I got rear ended once... you could barely see any damage on the outside... but when they showed me what had to be replaced and why... ugh... $5k later...
@dakstaka
not necessarily. the post says that the cause seemed to be that the tesla "went unnoticed" in traffic. it looks to me like it was rear-ended, pushing it under the merc like a wedge. it would have to be traveling very fast to lift the other car like that, and in that case there would be more front end damage. this was a slow push, and the driver behind the tesla was probably at fault.
Yeah, it got pwnt.. They need to put exterior speakers on it to make fake engine noise.. LOL
you're an idiot.
I can just see the ultimate "customization" coming - Make your car sound like a Ferrari, for just 9.95. Car ringtones, or drivetones?
One of the new electrics actually has that feature, unless I'm hallucinating again.
They did this on an episode of Pimp My Ride.
Yea, let them try it. Me and some co-inventor’s attorneys will swoop down on them like a Romulan Bird of Prey. So let’s hope the pay us for the rhymes they stole from us first. Just sayin... Hear that Fisker?
Ha this reminds me of the short kids that get elbowed in the face during mosh pits.
lol this makes me sad that I missed Warped Tour
Tesla or Telsa? Make your mind up!
Well, seeing as he didn't say "Telsa" once, coupled with the fact that Tesla is a real word, I'd say he meant Tesla.
Thanks, but I replied before the corrections were made!
If 10 cars have been delivered and 2 of them have crashed, that means there's a 20% chance of having a crash in one of these!
(Not really, but people might presume just as well)
I never noticed how ridiculously low that thing is. It could just be the perspective, but if that thing is as low s it appears to be how the heck is it street legal? You've got a better chance of seeing a go-kart from behind your steering wheel than that thing.
um... I think it's low cuz it's under another car.... but maybe I'm way off on this one.
It's a sports car. They are low.
It's based on a Lotus Elise - you know, the second smallest vehicle currently for sale in North America - which is an exotic sports car. Ever seen a performance sports car that wasn't a hell of a lot lower to the ground then your average sedan?
Dude above me:
"Lotus Elise - Exotic sports car"
Exotic? It's built by a couple of hairy yorkshire men in a shed, how the hell is that exotic?
Still, they are very, very nice cars, I've had the privilege to drive on, they stick to the road like shit sticks to a blanket.
Still, exotic? Pfft.
Rynth, you are an idiot.
Rynth,
Most auto enthusiasts here would still consider Lotus as an exotic car manufacturer. Price and engine size are not requirements to make a car an exotic.
To me, what makes a car exotic is exotic performance and handling... Not whether or not the men who made it are hairy.
Call me crazy or something, but I just don't care about how beautiful the men making my cars are.
Adjective
exotic (comparative more exotic, superlative most exotic)
1. foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign.
2. non-native to the eco-system
So Lotus would be considered exotic outside of Yorkshire.
It's okay, you can safely presume that @Rynth is a racist, or at the very least pretty bigoted. From the few lines we've seen:
All cars in Yorkshire are made my men
All Yorkshire men are hairy
England doesn't produce "exotic" cars
Kudos to you, @Rynth! You managed to have an incredibly narrow mind conveyed in very few words. How succinct of you!
Jackass.
um why would it make a difference if it made a sound or not its not like you can hear other cars from inside another car often and he ran up the backside of the merc
And, has no one ever stood by the side of the road and listened to traffic? 89.342% of what you hear is tire noise and wind noise. Those two factors drown out all but the loudest engines. So even if the Tesla's motor is silent, the car is not.
Huh, I guess I must be the weird person that can see cars without having to hear them.
cars are boring... the end!
pretty much like your comments then?
What a waste...
Yeah, why do rich people suck at driving?
They're too busy making money...
Haha
You don't have to be very rich to drive a Tesla. (It's not Phantom priced.) If you're single and work at a good job in SF/Silicon Valley, it's not difficult to buy a Roadster without leasing.
wow, my god
And the sign says "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
Signs, signs, everywhere signs...
lookin' at the scenery, wastin' my time
Do this, don't do that! Can't you read the signs?
@Tim
lol. It's should be "Blockin' out the scenery, breaking my mind".
Except that it hit a Mercedes sedan, which is neither an SUV nor Hummer.
Um, that's a Volvo, not a Mercedes.
No, it really is a merc. See the the logo on the wheel, and the shape of the tail lights.
in the world of motorcycles there is a saying "loud pipes save lives" which means the louder your exhaust sounds the more chance you have of getting noticed by a car instead of getting hit by one, maybe tesla needs to do something about this
The loud pipes are only there to compensate for driving like an ass. On a recent trip, ever motorcyclist I saw was behaving like a jerk, weaving in and out of traffic illegally without even signaling and driving down the centerline to get between cars. Yeah he had a loud exhaust. It just highlighted how much of a tool he was.
Right and if we all take this to the extreme then all of our ears fall out. Seriously, compare the street noise of an average US city to the street noise of one of those European cities. All over sudden these "stupid" noise regulations they have there make a huge difference for all of us.
Yeah, as if loud pipes ever stopped motorcycle accidents.
I aim for motorcyclists with loud pipes.
I too believe that loud pipes save lives....
That's why I want to get an extremely loud exhaust on my old truck, which exits at about head-level for the motorcyclists. That way they get a good constant reminder that they should probably calm down and drive very carefully, because if there IS an accident, they're pretty much screwed.
I say this (in humor) as a guy who actually has a motorcycle license...I just don't have much tolerance for the ridiculously loud exhausts and aggressive drivers that are all too common in the motorcycle world.
(And for sanity's sake...wear some frickin' body armor. A t-shirt and sandals aren't proper equipment for that.)
Douchebags on cruisers with straight pipes are just that. Douchebags. Nobody wants to hear your ear-splitting noise pollution. That crap is louder than a jackhammer, and it proves that you're an anti-social jackass by the way you crack open the throttle every time you see someone on the street who aren't wearing earplugs like you are.
And yes, I have my motorcycle license.
Bikes with loud pipes feed the public perception that the rest of us are also dbags. While I'm at it:
- stop revving your motor at stop lights. It's not a 2 stroke GP bike, and you're not warming it up for a practice lap. If your bike idles too low, take it to the shop. No one is impressed with how fast your tractor motor / pasta rocket revs under zero load, puss.
- wear some protection; you're f*cking with my insurance premiums.
as a motorcyclist i can tell you that loud pipes do NOT save shit. that's just what guys with straight pipes say to justify the noise. these are usually the same geniuses who refuse to wear helmets. do you really believe anything these guys say?
I scratched my car today while parking, this makes me feel a whole lot better!
SO IT WAS YOU!
This kind of collision is nearly *always* the rear car driver's fault. They aren't paying attention and accelerate instead of braking or just fail to brake when the car ahead of them does. This accident doesn't really say anything about the vehicle's safety on the road. That driver would've crashed any other vehicle too.
People who can afford cars like this are often crap drivers, as they are usually footballers or d list celebrites.
It's a $100,000 sports car. You have to figure there's about a 90% chance the person behind the wheel is a wealthy jackass, who believes that "traffic" and "speed limit" don't apply to them. Why not weave in and out of cars at high speeds in a car you've not owned long enough to get comfortable with? 'Waiting' is for commoners.
It really doesn't matter if the tesla makes sound or not, most people have their stereo's loud to not hear a siren go off..
This has nothing to do with no sound coming off the tesla, just with people not looking where they are going...
Exactly. When I drive I don't hear much from the outside what with the stereo blasting, so whether the car is silent or not doesn't matter. What matters though is that if I saw that thing on the street I'd be hard pressed to take my eyes off of it, doubly so if I realized it was a Tesla.
Obviously the driver can't drive if he managed to rear-end in a bumper to bumper traffic but I doubt his car went unnoticed by the other drivers.
That's why we need to load the Tesla with some sweet @$$ subs
Actually, he was rear-ended into the Mercedes. NOT the Tesla drivers fault.
Jesus christ! I don't have any money at all for one of these things, yet I've never been in an accident. Why the hell do rich people buy these things... and then promptly slam them into another car?!
because they can afford it
@Ignatius -
Read the article - the Tesla was rear-ended by a Toyota Camry and pushed into the MBZ. Now, want to rethink that comment?
(Certainly, there are others who buy expensive cars and don't know how to drive...but give this Tesla owner a break.)
This needs a great big "OWNED" caption.
Amen dreamscape86. This accident has nothing to do with the safety of a Tesla versus a hummer. An inattentive driver rear ended someone. It's got nothing to do with the lowness of the car, the lack of noise, or any other characteristic of the car. It was obvious driver error. Why is this different from, say, a Miata? Frankly, this accident appears to show off the relative safety of the car (well, except for the lack of airbag deployment).
And chances are good that if a Hummer had rear ended that Mercedes, the Mercedes driver would be in the hospital right now.
Goddammit, it's not a Mercedes, it's a VOLVO.
Jim,
As an Avid Volvo owner, I must point out once again, that is not a Volvo. One. Volvo's have a pronouced slopped, rounded edge from the windows to the doorhandles. Two Volvo Door Handles are Flush to the body of the car so that the rounded edge is consistent; and Three, Volvo Tires do not have a Mercedes Propeller.
Hmm... last I recalled, an accident involving an electric car required a visit from a hazmat team. Did this issue somehow get addressed and no longer requires them, did they arrive and not get mentioned in this article, or did they just sweep that under the rug and no one bothered to call them out to the site?
Why would you need a hazmat team? It's just a battery.
Would depend if any of the batteries were violated...
LOL, I was going to go with "ruptured" but "violated" sound more crude, so we'll go with Andir's response.
lithium ion. not the same as old-skool.
wow!! the airbag new that it was the drivers fault, so it decided not to deploy
great technology in 100000$ car
First off...do you mean "knew?"
Secondly...I'm going to assume, that the driver was inattentive but then just before impact, realized he was going to hit and slammed on his brakes. This would cause the car to go into a nose dive and, what seems like, the impact was past the driver/passenger airbag sensors which are usually behind the front bumper. If you look at the picture, the impact is in the hood, and much less in the front bumper.
An airbag would have hurt him more. See how the car in front of it rode up the Roadster's hood? That slowed down the Roadster gradually. It would have only hurt the driver more to have the airbag blowing up into his face.
The key here is time. You want the time of acceleration to zero to be extended to make the impact less harmful.
Argh, why is it all so misleading every time. If you follow the link to the wired.com site and actually read it, the Tesla may not have caused the accident as there was a 94 Camry that rear ended the Tesla causing it to go under the Mercedes.
So the douche bag who was driving it cut in between 2 cars, the one to the rear of which had not seen him? Sounds like his own f'n fault.
1. To everyone attacking the owner of the Tesla: Did anyone READ THE STORY? The article (in the FIRST paragraph) states that the Tesla was found between the MB and a Camry and clearly shows rear end damage. That does not tell us whether the Tesla was at fault. But it is likely that they were not. It is most likely that the Tesla was at a stop behind the MB, was hit hard from behind, and then driven forward into the MB. It is also possible that the driver of the Tesla had his head up his butt and hit the MB AND that the Camry's driver was also not paying attention/following too close, but that would be unusual.
2. HAZMAT teams do need to be called to accidents here in my state. In the absence of a leak, I've never heard of that. However, emergency crews are told to disconnect the battery first when working on a crash scene.
3. This "Volkov" witness is a joke. They base all sorts of theories on him - including blaming the Tesla driver. Then they say "Though he arrived well after the crash, Volkov speculated the accident was the fault of the Tesla’s driver because eyewitnesses told him..". Sorry. Accident witness recollection is bad enough on its own. Secondhand opinions are worthless.
"Siry [Tesla VP of Marketing] said that the customer was rear-ended, a theory that makes sense considering the angle of the crash and that the airbags didn’t deploy. “He didn't crash into someone,” he said. “The rear-ending caused him to go under the car in front of him -- my guess is that's why the airbags didn't deploy.”
That last statement is typically correct. The front end damage occurs dramatically different during an underride than during a simple rear-end collision. As the forces in an underride are less severe, the airbag module may "wake up", but not sense enough of a jolt to trigger the firing.
God I would kill my self if that happened to me, its like one of the nicest cars.
...it's a car, albeit a nice one, it's hardly worth killing yourself over.
plus, that is a huge addition to the situation, the police would then have to be called in and you have wasted a whole lot of taxpayer money, simply because you crashed your car they have to get a suicide unit on the scene, WTF. Learn to cope with sh*t when it happens instead of resorting to "the easy way out".
Note: I realize that it is just an expression, but I chose to take it literal...so sue me!
Wow. Come on guys, are 80% of you really THAT car ignorant?
* It's based on a Lotus Elise, and for the usual inattentive driver, they probably weren't paying attention and slammed right into it. Due to ride height, most of the force transferred directly to the rest of the car and probably pushed it into the car in front.
* Why is it surprising the airbag doesn't go off? Have any of you, including the author of this story, ever HAD an airbag go off? The airbag trigger mechanism is based on deceleration - NOT impact (this is a myth). A quick enough deceleration will trigger the mechanism and fire the airbag.
It's not a pillow, folks. It's basically a rock coming at you at hundreds of miles per hour.
I wouldn't expect the bag to fire for a 30-0 collision, especially something like this where the car went under rather than a direct collision.
Oh and that's not a S550, Flashpoint, that is some type of C-Class. Oh well, at least that MB driver gets to get some car that actually isn't a POS, maybe any 3-series.
I was in a similar accident where I was rear ended at about 45 MPH and pushed into the car in front of me... no air bag. Those only go off if the car is moving at higher speeds and there is a significant front-end impact.
I can't believe some of you are fighting at a time like this! *sniffle*
haha wow that is an expensive FAIL
and yeah, airbags deploy after a front end collision at 35mph or greater, no matter if he was rear-ended to begin with or not.
Holy crap, that's literally right up the street from my apt! I got caught by the police doing the dirty w/ my GF parked in that church's lot. HAHA.
Classy.
"...Martin Eberhard saw his car rear-end a truck while on router for delivery to Eberhard's home."
Where can I get one of those routers?
Aren't the batteries in the trunk for this very reason?
remember folks, just because you can afford a $100,000 car, doesn't mean you know how to drive it.... or anything.
I can't see cars unless they are loud. It's weird.
Why, please someone tell me why are most rich people fu**ing idiots? See, there are rude drivers, they are normally driving what ever they heck they can afford. Then there are the oblivious drivers, they are usually driving Merc's, then you have the sports car folks who think they can do what ever they want because their car costs more than yours. Then you have any other Jonny Q. Punchclock that just doesn't spend enough time thinking about what is ahead of them and/or just refuses to SHARE THE ROAD.
It's crap like this that really gets to me.
Merc Driver: Get off your cell phone and actually drive. Pay attention, and for the love of god PLEASE use your turn signal.
Tesla #6 Owner: You don't deserve that car. I don't care how much MONEY you have. Go buy an 1988 Honda Accord with a manual transmission and drive that around for a while. Appreciate what you have and don't drive like some pompus ass!
Camry Owner: Calm down and back off. I am betting the Tesla driver was being too aggressive, but you need to back off. I know it's frustrating, but there will just be some other jerk tomorrow to replace this guy. Yell scream and moan, sure, but the reality is that if you don't back off and someone stops short, THIS HAPPENS.
Not that I think this little note will make even the slightest difference, but I feel better.;p
- Kiteless
Most of the problem comes from driving tests being WAY too easy. The other problem is it's impossible to live in many US cities without a car, so the DMV is basically a rubber-stamp when it comes to driving skills.