5 Teens Survive Horrific 80-Foot Leap, Rollover Crash In Tesla Model S

- in Cars

18-year-old girl grabbed the key of her father’s brand new $100,000+ Tesla Model S, picked up four more friends and went out on a joyride.

Due to excessive speed – which isn’t hard to achieve in a top-of-the-line Model S – the inexperienced driver lost control. The girl went off road and the car launched up in the air from an embankment. The Model S flew through the air for at least 80 feet, flipped over and landed on its wheels.
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It takes a lot of speed to flip a 5,000 lbs Model S with a low center of gravity, but fortunately and despite the severity of the crash, all five 18 or 19 occupants in the Model S – survived.

In fact, all five were all able to exit the vehicle without the help of the first responders, though their injuries were described as “serious but non-life threatening”. Three of them were transported to the hospital in Munich by helicopter, while the other two were treated locally.

Pictures of the accident show that the car is a total wreck, the front-end of the Model S is completely destroyed while the passenger cell looks almost unscathed. This highlights the importance of a large crumple zone, like the Tesla Model S’ front trunk (frunk), something easier to design with electric vehicles due to the lack of engines and the use of smaller motors. Also, the heavy floor might be responsible for the car’s final resting position, with the outcome potentially being even worse for those inside had it ended up on the roof.

All the side, rear and top glass pieces remained intact, and only the right side of the windshield show some damage.

Tesla has always bragged about the safety rating of its vehicles, and all the accidents its cars have been involved in seem to confirm this.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk likes to use a pool analogy pool to describe the effect a crumple zone has during an impact: “it’s just like jumping into a pool from a high diving board – you want a deep pool and one without rocks in it.”
As usual, he says a lot in a few words.