A horrific accident recently occurred near Houston, Texas, where a Tesla Cybertruck crashed and erupted in flames. Reportedly, the driver of the vehicle was burned alive during the crash, and the remains were unidentifiable in the wreckage. It is believed that this incident is the first fatal car accident to feature a Cybertruck, which recently hit consumer markets.
According to reports, the accident occurred around 1:45 a.m. on Monday near the east Texas coast. Authorities claim the car drove off Cedar Parkway near the Baytown area and plowed into a drainage channel. The fire that resulted from the crash was so intense that it burned the driver beyond recognition, the license plates, and VIN numbers, making it initially impossible to identify the victim.
Following the incident, the safety and reliability of the Cybertruck which was released late last year. The EV truck has already encountered several safety issues, requiring it to endure several recalls. For example, Tesla had to recall approximately 4,000 vehicles in April due to reports of the accelerator becoming stuck at full speed.
Furthermore, there has been a broad concern with EVs regarding lithium-ion battery fires. Reports indicate that when these batteries ignite, they can be extremely difficult to extinguish. In some instances, first responders are essentially forced to let the fires burn out on their own. “Electric vehicle fires are an emerging threat across the world right now,” explained Eric Kurtz from South Metro Fire and Rescue when dealing with in EV fire in Colorado. “Specifically when the battery pack is involved, that it can be nearly impossible to extinguish it will take 10s of 1000s of gallons to do that.”
Moreover, EV adoption has appeared to slow as consumers begin to discover the downsides of owning the novel technology over a traditional internal combustion engine. Aside from safety, major repairs on EVs’, such as replacing the battery, can prove to be exorbitantly expensive. In turn, this also drives up the cost to insure these vehicles.
“Insurance costs for EVs and hybrid cars can be higher than for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles largely because they can be more expensive to repair and replace. For example, a new EV battery ranges between $4,000 and $20,000 depending on the make and model of your EV, compared to $100-200 for an ICE car battery. If the battery of an EV is damaged in an accident, that’s a significantly more expensive replacement cost,” according to Progressive.
The insurance provider continued outlining the cost of ownership for EVs, “On top of more expensive parts, there also aren’t as many repair shops with technicians trained to fix electric vehicles versus traditional vehicles. That means those qualified facilities may charge more for repairs because of the specialized training required.”
Furthermore, The American Tribune reported on findings that even the largest EV markets can still be considered “charging deserts.” “The surge in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has brought an unexpected challenge to the forefront. Despite being the third-largest EV market in the nation, Los Angeles and its surrounding areas face a critical shortage of charging infrastructure. A recent study by real estate giant CBRE has dubbed this region a “charging desert,” highlighting the growing disparity between EV ownership and accessible charging options,” according to commentary from Cyber Report Guy.
Watch news coverage of the fatal Cybertruck class below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
