With GM recalling virtually every car it has made since emerging from bankruptcy, another maker of flaming paperweights has quietly managed to slip through the cracks of public attention. So it was perhaps well-timed, if only for GM, that over the weekend we not only learned, but saw footage, of what happens when a Tesla is involved in a Police chase that results in a lamp post crash. Nothing short of complete obliteration.
As KTLA reported [3], "a stolen Tesla involved in a fiery crash split into two following a pursuit that ended in West Hollywood early Friday, leaving seven people injured, police said. The incident began when police received a call from a Tesla dealership stating that an individual was “tampering or messing with” one of the vehicles, according to Sgt. Campbell with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division. Officers responded to the dealership and a pursuit began at about 12:45 a.m., Campbell said.
The good news, if only for Tesla car snatchers, "during the pursuit, the Tesla reached speeds of up to 100 mph. Also: better than a Bronco for aspiring wife murderers.
However, the car chase was not to last: the pursuit ended on La Brea Avenue between Fountain and Lexington avenues a short time later when the driver of the Tesla hit two other cars and a lamp post, Campbell said.
A witness told KTLA that the Tesla hit the pole and split in half, and that part of the vehicle landed on top of a white car.
“There were fires after that that broke out,” Eric Martinez said. “I saw the firefighters — like 25 firefighters – standing around the white car with the Jaws of Life.” Martinez added that at one point, explosions could be heard.
“We originally thought it was fireworks. Everybody thought it was fireworks that were just exploding,” he said.
[4]
And there you have another marketing opportunity: Optional fireworks flaming end: $995.99 extra.
The Tesla sure did not go quietly: in total, the Tesla collided with four vehicles, injuring a total of 6 victims, before splitting in two, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
But the best news for the flaming paperweight: not even the driver managed to die.
The man driving the Tesla — who was ejected from the vehicle — was originally thought to have died, but he was resuscitated while en route to a hospital, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release.
Two LAPD officers were injured during the pursuit when their vehicle hit the center divider, according to LAPD Officer Bruce Borihanh.
The officers complained of pain and were taken to a local hospital, Borihanh said, adding that they were later released and did not sustain injuries.
And of course, as Bloomberg followed up [5], Tesla Motos, Inc. seemingly unable to grasp how its car could i) split in two and ii) proceed to explode in a fiery wreck, has said it wants to study the remnants of a stolen Model S sedan that split in half and burned after a high-speed chase and collision in Los Angeles.
“We’ve asked to take a look at the vehicle as soon as that’s possible,” Simon Sproule, a company spokesman, said in a phone interview. “There aren’t so many S’s involved in major crashes, and certainly not quite like this one, so we absolutely want to have a look to understand what happened.”
Indeed, a post mortem investigation is probably not a bad idea. And furthermore, if anything, recalling all those tens of thousands of Model S cars sold is probably not such a bad idea. After all just look at GM - after admitting its work product was absolutely abysmal, and the company didn't care about the lives of its customers if it meant higher EPS, resulting in nearly 30 million recalls in 6 months, GM managed to sell more cars in June than any time since Lehman. It almost appears as if Americans, bored with their lives, and certainly the stock market, are eager to experience the excitement of a violent, flaming death.
As for the Tesla, a clip of what happened is below.
