[Update: I will continue to make ongoing revisions to this story as it develops]
What’s believed to be the world’s first Tesla Roadster crash took place in San Francisco this evening at the corner of Geary and Gough streets at about 6 p.m. PDT. There were no reported injuries in the accident, in which the Tesla ended up between (and partially underneath) a Mercedes and what appeared to be a Nissan Maxima a Toyota Camry. The Tesla the world’s first all-electric sports car, and only nine (sayeth Wikipedia) have been produced so far. Did it hold up to standards predicted by crash tests? You decide.
Photos by my friend Alex Volkov. Larger version of this photo here. He has better photos if you’d like to buy them for publication.
I have found a story that seems to indicate that the first crash accident may have been by a technician doing the final check on one of the first cars the day it was to be delivered. So this may just be the first photographed (unplanned) crash.
Latest Links:
- Wired News: Comment from Tesla and an Eyewitness on First Tesla Crash [with better photos by Alex Volkov].
- Alex is interviewed by EVcast Monday (1:00 in).
- Also mentioned by my boss Leo Laporte in TWiT 153
Now that is a sad day!
Did the new Tesla come with Brakes or were you suppose to drag your feet to stop ?
me thinks you photoshop too much.
#1 Look at angles/wheels/damage/other car in accident.
The first photogaraphed Tesla accident is an undamged roadster uplifting an undamaged Mercedes??? Who doesn;t wish this happens in an accident.
#2 black Tesla in Sf would be highyly improbable as only two exhist and one is Elon Musks in sothern california and i would doubt he drove it up north when he has others in San Carlos and I heard he drove the Orange over last weekend in SF
Did it hold up to standards predicted by crash tests? You decide.
Or watch the videos. http://www.www.autobloggreen.com/2007/10/13/smashing-roadsters-at-a-thousand-frames-per-second-video-of-tes/
Seems pretty standard for a sports car.
Mike: Yes, I did use Photoshop Elements, but only to crop and add the copyright notice for Alex. He shot it with a small point and shoot camera. I’m honored that you think I’m good enough with Photoshop to fake it. Perhaps it would be easy for someone who knew what they are doing. I’ve made some fun Photoshop mash-ups before, like this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/insidetwit/428334485/. But in my mind this is a real photo and real news item, unless my friend is playing a prank on me and you (and went through the trouble to create a number of images and load them on his SD card). I’ll ask Alex to send me a link to the other photos for sale.
If this were true, it would not be the first crash… it would be the second. Martin Eberhard’s car was crashed before delivery by technician.
I have an email into Tesla now confirming this “accident”.
Bo Bennett, Host
EVcast.com
(and Tesla owner - at least owner of spot on waiting list)
Dane,
do you know any more details about this accident, such as who this Roadster belongs to? Do you know if the driver was any of the people in the pictures? Any additional information would be appreciated. Thanks.
Chris H.
Actually, it’s at least the third Tesla Roadster accident. VP13 (Very Orange) was involved in a single-vehicle accident.
If you go to the Flicker large image and zoom in enough, the lower rear of the Tesla clearly does appear damaged.
It doesn’t seem like front of the Nissan could be low enough to damage the front top of the Nissan and the lower rear of the Tesla, but the nose would dip down quite a bit with very hard braking, so maybe it’s plausible.
It may very well be the Nissan driver’s fault, if he/she hit the Tesla and pushed it into and under the Merc, but it’s impossible to know for sure with just these photos to go on.
From the looks of the photos, it looks like the white car is the one that forgot to apply the brakes, or was at the very least following way too closely. You don’t rear-end someone else after they have been in an accident if you’re at a safe distance and watching the road.
A few scenarios come to mind:
1) Tesla owner misjudged braking performance, and was unable to stop in time. Car following wasn’t paying any attention or was chasing the Tesla and also couldn’t stop in time.
2) Tesla owner stopped just short of Mercedes but was rear-ended by the white car and shoved underneath. (no visible skid marks, so this seems probable to me)
3) Tesla owner sees the light turn green and jackrabbits into the Mercedes, driver of white car also jackrabbits and smashes into Tesla. (Seems unlikely, but possible)
Any other scenarios out there that don’t involve conspiracy theories about warnings from big oil?
The lack of skid marks behind the Roadster doesn’t mean anything. The Roadster has ABS, so you’ll pretty much never see skid marks from a one clamping on the brakes.
The white car in the 2nd picture is not a Nissan Maxima but a Toyota Camry … and to be honest I can’t understand how anyone could confuse the two. They look nothing alike.
JohnB, cause now, they basically all look the same. Boring.
Tesla ought to use those photos for an ad. The car seemed to suffer very little serious damage, considering… and the driver looks more annoyed than injured. I’d call it a win for Tesla.
I’d love to find out how much it costs to repair, but that will likely never become public knowledge. :)
Hi guys, little bit of an update from the scene - skids are on the road, they may not seen on pictures but they are clearly seen, still, right where it happened (Geary Blvd, eastbound, before intersection with Gough). Only hard to tell which of three cards it belongs to.
From what drivers and police were gathering, Tesla car was about to change lanes, in between white and black cars, but was (a) silent and (b) low profile, so as a result it was not well noticed (if at all). Combine it will sudden Mers’s stop (Friday busy traffic, exiting town) and here is a recipe for what happened.
Crowd mentioned while I was there, that Tesla was also (c) speeding and with that was even more unnoticeable, appeared from behind very suddenly, but it was not confirmed by no one and looked like SFPD wasn’t accepting it as a fact (but skids are there …)
I will have more pictures for you guys soon, it is not a photoshop trick, I took pics from all angles, I am just waiting for a few connections to work out with publishers to see what will be exclusively given to them and what’s not
The car in the picture is a Lotus Exige, not a tesla… calm the f*ck down.
It’s a new game………….”TAG A TESLA”
Achieve international fame for hitting a Tesla and have your insurance cover the costs……
Your 15 minutes starts NOW!
It is a Tesla Roadster, not a Lotus Exige (or Elise). In the larger version of the image, it’s easy to read “TESLA” across the back, and it has the grill below the back bumper that is part of the design to channel air under the car body, a feature unique to the Roadster.
‘Kris’ there would be a lot of similarities (as the body and chassis are built BY lotus) but it is most decidedly a Tesla.
And it’s not like even if it were ‘just’ an exige it’s not like it makes it all that much less expensive a car. Just a bit more readily available. Besides, its too damn big to be an exige/elise. I heard that the Tesla feels very much (both outside and inside) like a bigger heavier Elise.
Kris, perhaps you should calm down and re-examine things a little. The Tesla (as stated, clearly labeled) is an all-electric car built on a frame provided by Lotus (Exige/Elise). So although it does appear you know something about these small, sporty cars, you obviously don’t know as much as you thought you did. Go back, do some research, them when you have all the facts, come back and enlighten us with some real wisdom.
Not to be anal but the white car is a 3rd generation Toyota Camry produced from 1991-1996 not a Maxima although I don’t blame you for not being able to tell… all Japanese sedans look pretty much the same anyway…
Kris
Save the picture of the accident then zoom in on the back of the car.
It’s a bit out of focus but it clearly says TESLA.
Get your facts right first please before the profanities.
Peter J Hedge
Victoria, BC
Much better (or much more terrible) image:
http://forums.hardwarelogic.com/f9/tesla-6-crash-disturbs-sound-silence-14646.html#post130958
Seems to be a crash, because the Camry driver saw the Tesla and screems: “WOW! A TESLA!” and forget to hit the brakes ;)
Actually, this would be the fourth Tesla Roadster accident. I crashed mine last week against another Tesla.
My name is C.C. I am the driver of the Mercedes Benz, who was part of the accident. Actually, I am one of four (not three) drivers in this accident. I came across this website by following other links I found. I can’t believe how many different blog sites are reporting this accident! Is a Tesla thaaaaat special? Granted it’s a cool car and all, but come on! I have copied and pasted my original comment below from a different website a couple days ago.
Additionally, I want to point out something very clearly: I did NOT come to a sudden stop in any way. Furthermore, I did NOT change lanes at all, and I was not speeding in any way. Instead, I was coming to a red light stop at a major intersection at Geary Blvd @ Gough Street in San Francisco. Myself, the Benz owner, and a Lexus sedan (not pictured on this site) in front of me, were both coming to a red light stop on Geary Blvd. After I got rear ended by the Tesla, my own car (the Benz) bumped into the Lexus sedan in front of me, thereby causing my front license plate to fall off, and my Benz also sustained front end damage in addition to back end damage. My front license plate did not fall off due to the Tesla behind me!!! That’s laughable! Therefore, my own car (the Benz) had sustained both back end and front end damage due to the Tesla and Lexus cars. The Lexus sedan did not hit any car in front of him, and the Lexus sedan sustained very minor damage to his rear end from my Benz, probably because I was nearly at a full stop in front of the red light and making sure I had enough distance from the Lexus sedan in front of me who was also coming to a full stop at the red light signal. Put simply in another way, both the Lexus car, and myself, (in the same lane) were both coming to a stop at a red light before all the drama happened! I hardly hit the Lexus in front of me, but just enough to knock off my front license plate and cause some cracking to my front end. Even though it was 6pm rush hour last Friday evening when this happened, there were relatively few cars at that very spot coming to a red light stop. Trust me, I know what rush hour traffic is like in San Fran! At the moment the light changed red, there were very few cars next to me and/or in front of me, other than the Lexus sedan that I bumped into in front of me. It was a very orderly red light stop…or so I thought! As for pictures, trust me, NOBODY but nobody has more pictures than me! Immediately after the accident happened, within 1 minute, I jumped out of my car, and started taking dozens and dozens of digital pictures from all angles with my camera. I have all the original pictures, which my insurance adjuster wants to see. These pictures were all taken immediately after the accident happened. As for skid marks, from my pictures, I did not see any skid marks behind the tires of the Tesla, however, there are clearly skid marks behind the tires of the Toyota Camry, which was the 4th last car in the pile-up accident. As a further clarification, the car involved is in fact a TOYOTA CAMRY, not another brand. Also, the car that rear-ended me is clearly a TESLA, not another brand. How do I know that? Because again, I am the driver of the Benz that was part of the accident, and I saw with my own eyes the words “Tesla” on the back of the car. As for who was who, and names of the drivers, etc, I’m sure the parties directly involved all want to stay un-named.
See below for link and text of original comment that I made:
http://www.egmcartech.com/2008/07/29/tesla-6-crashed-witnesses-say-it-went-unnoticed-because-its-too-quiet/
My name is C.C., and I am the Benz owner, and was the driver at the scene of the accident. There were a total of 4 cars included in this accident. I was coming to a stop at a red light signal at a major 4 lane intersection of Geary Blvd @ Gough in San Francisco (in front of the church). The driver of the Lexus sedan car in front of me in the same lane (who you don’t see in the pictures) was also coming to a stop at a red light, as I was. I was nearly at a full stop due to the clearly visible red light signal in front of me on a sunny clear day at approximately 6pm last Friday evening. I suddenly heard a loud screeching noise coming from somewhere, which I thought must be from behind me. As I was about to look up my rear view mirror, it was already too late, the Tesla car slammed into me from behind. I in turn bumped into the driver of the Lexus car in front of me. The Lexus car’s rear bumper appeared to sustain very minor damage from what I could tell, whereas my Mercedes clearly had some front hood damage. The owner of the Tesla says he rammed into me from behind because the driver of the white Toyota Camry hit him (the Tesla owner) from behind. The driver of the Toyota Camry was the last 4th car in the rear. This is how 4 cars got involved. There were no passengers in any of the 4 cars involved, other than the drivers, from what I could tell at the time. In response to a previous poster, NO, I did NOT switch lanes at all, and neither did the Lexus driver in front of me. I was driving in the same lane the whole time coming to a red light stop. I have no idea what went on behind me, as the only thing that clued me for impending trouble was a loud and quick screeching noise before I got hit from behind. I saw the damage to the Tesla car with my own eyes, and boy was it baaaaad! The front end of the Tesla car was really mashed up, and pieces of the Tesla car were lying on the road. When it came time for me (the Mercedes owner) to leave the scene as ordered by the police officer on duty, I could NOT move my car, because my left rear wheel tire was actually off the ground due to the Tesla! The Tesla front hood was about 1/3rd of the way under the left side of my rear end bumper, thereby raising one of my rear wheels! You should see my Benz’ tailpipes, which is all bent out of shape! I think I was able to break free and drive away because the Tesla car backed up, and my left rear wheel came back to the ground. I actually took lots of digital pictures, as I had a pocket digital camera with me at the time. As soon as the accident happened, I got out of my car and shot dozens and dozens of pictures from different angles. While inspecting the pictures after the fact, I noticed skid marks from behind the white Toyota Camry. Does this mean the skid marks came from the Camry or the Tesla? I don’t know for sure, but clearly my pictures show skid tire marks from behind the tires of the Camry car, which was the last 4th car in the pile up accident. By the way, I found out about this website by coincidence when a friend noticed it. As an aside, I was actually on my way to pick up a girl for cocktails at the time when this accident happened. As soon as the accident occurred, she called me literally 30 seconds later and asked, “are you on your way?” I was like…well, umm, something came up…wish you could see this right now!! Regards, C.C. –owner of the Mercedes c230 (which is pretty messed up both back and front end, by the way!)
tailgaters should pay attention.