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 July 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.
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".
pretty much like your comments then?
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