During a demonstration run of a Tesla Roadster in Southern France, the driver (who was demoing it for the passenger) attempted to take a wet corner a bit too fast and ended up going off the road, smashing the front left and rear right quarters of the car. The passenger was thrown clear, luckily not through the windshield, but miraculously neither party was seriously injured.
What is it about this car that causes people to drive irresponsibly? One Tesla rear-ended a truck and this guy rammed another car at a stoplight. People don’t crash Porsches at this rate, do they? There are only fifty of these things and three are out of commission! At least it hasn’t been the car’s fault and no one’s been hurt.
Calacanis, Drive safely when you finally get yours!
How about requiring test drives with Schwinn Stingray bikes and mental evaluations besides financial background checks? Seems drivers are as reckless with products as executives are with company itself. It is only money.
I guess you haven’t seen how quickly the number of “living” Ferrari Enzos has decreased. And they cost a bunch more!
I don’t feel that this is relevant Crunch content! Sorry but I don’t want to see cars and accidents in the morning ;)
Well hey now, if it were any OTHER car…
That’s some nice ad placement on there.
It’s not ad placement, it’s photoshop.
“The passenger was thrown clear”
Mwuahahaha what a loser
Ouch. Maybe they should do an IQ test before you can buy or drive one?
No one else wanted to comment on the irony of the door decal and those pictures?
It’s not a decal, it’s Photoshop…
Well, I’ll be. . . Thanks for the heads up. Glad I could give you a laugh. :-P
the inordinate numbers of crashes may have something to do with how an electric vehicle’s instantaneous power delivery would be unfamiliar to drivers accustomed to revving up or waiting for boost to kick in before the surge of torque occurs…
in corners or wet conditions this could get really scary if there is no traction control built into the system.
I previously had a turbo’ed motorcycle…. which was scary precisely because of the off/on nature of it’s powerband – an electric car would be like this, but without the lag…
I would up selling the thing because I only felt safe going in straight lines.
Yeah, I was wondering about that…. but from the nature of the accidents I would have guessed bad brakes? No one has said it was the car’s fault though. We’ll see.
@Eric – the ‘door decal’ is just photoshop text – LOL !
If you drive this sort of car without respect you will crash it.
Now that’s some real “Crunch” gear.
Get out. Now.
They say the torque, the ability to go from zero to sixty whatever, the acceleration, on electric cars in -general- (not just one designed for ‘performance’) is wicked insane, and most drivers used to internal combustion engines drive trains self governing soft kneed acceleration curve, screw the pooch when it comes to putting the petal to the metal in an electric car.
It is relatively easy to lose control just due to the acceleration, But most electric car designs I have seen seem to be light on the front end, and I could easily see the front not gripping the road on a turn in a ‘oops too fast!’ situation.
the *petal* to the metal?
Is that how you drive an electric car?
lol
I have driven a Tesla for about an hour. The batteries create a linear torque curve, meaning you accelerate as fast from 30mph to 70mph as from 0mph to 40mph, which makes the Tesla the fastest passing car on the road. This becomes truly addicting when you start passing at high speed, and can shift, say, from 80mph to 100mph in less than two seconds, as no other car can do. It was really like driving a spaceship down El Camino, and I started pulling tricks I would never do in a normal car; for the next half hour I was jittery and trembling from all the adrenaline. I am slightly thankful that I did not end up purchasing one, because I am not sure how long we would last together.
I wonder if the lack of engine sound might have something to do with it as well? Noise tends to be a pretty good indicator of how much you’re pushing it, plus it in itself gives you an adrenaline boost. Without that you might just be trying to get your kicks otherwise.
Has anyone verified the legitimacy of this story? Especially when the primary source of the article is WreckedExotics.com, which no doubt created this fake story to drive more traffic to the site.
How many people can honestly say they have simply walked away from a 100mph crash after being ejected from the car? Most people die, and those that don’t are seriously injured. Does anyone remember what happened to Rick Allen?
If this story is true, shouldn’t the Sales Director be fired for recklessly endangering company property and a potential customer?
It is also pretty unclear whether this is a Tesla or simply an Elise / Exige
See that circular plate outside above the driver’s left shoulder? That’s the Tesla charging port. Pretty darn unique ..
Man ah! oh! …. Man! …. if you really want to hang ten, in the turns and corners.
two [2] wheels {motorcycles} is [ are ] will always be the way, to do and go.
The science and physics has been spoken, and it has been proved,
Two [2] wheeler do it better!!!!!!!!!!!! …..
does this car have traction control or electronic stability control?
personally, i wouldn’t buy one until there’s a lot more data on safety
Great pictures, I love them.lol