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WBTV, CBS television affiliate for Charlotte, NC reports
Tesla Motors says the Model S sedan involved in a fatal crash in the Netherlands wasn't operating in the company's semi-autonomous Autopilot mode and was going more than 96 miles per hour when it crashed.
The 53-year-old driver of the electric sedan died [September 6] when his car smashed into a tree in the central Dutch town of Baarn and burst into flames, police and firefighters said. Police are investigating the cause of the early morning accident in the town 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Amsterdam.
Tesla said the car's logs show Autopilot wasn't engaged at any time during the man's trip, and that he was driving at more than 155 kilometers per hour, or 96 mph. The speed is consistent with the damage the car sustained from hitting the tree, the company said. Tesla sent representatives to the scene of the accident.
Electrek adds
The driver was reportedly dead by the time the firefighters were on the scene.
[...] The fire was difficult to extinguish according to the firefighters. They reportedly didn't know how to approach the vehicle without being electrocuted--leaving the body of the driver in the vehicle.
[...] Apparently, the problem wasn't due to a lack of knowledge on how to handle a crashed electric vehicle, but because of the state of the wreckage. [...] "This car is completely destroyed, hampering the recovery. In this situation, you never know what can happen."
Some of the battery modules reportedly fell out of the battery pack after the crash and subsequent fire.
[Eds Comment: The speed limit on the road was 90 kph / 56 mph. The vehicle is assessed to have been travelling at 154 kph/ 96 mph
See also: https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=15392&cid=398721]
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Friday September 09 2016, @03:29AM
I don't think that Tesla gets unconventional criticism because "some people" want to electric car to go away. I think it is because Tesla was marketed as the car-of-the-future in the beginning and the hype was very real around it being designed by Musk who was portrayed as next Steve Jobs. Musk invited attention, complete with "I was about to fail but then my rocket company succeeded and everyone was proved wrong and I am back" story line. Now that he has attention and publicity, Tesla is not doing anything totally new like it promised, so people are focusing on the shortcomings.
If Tesla came up with something entirely new tomorrow, you can forget this kind of news even existed. But Tesla can't, as it is burning money.