Four people have died in a car crash in France after their Tesla car reportedly crashed into a road sign and caught fire.
A local police spokesman, Lieutenant Eric Hoarau, said on Monday that the exact circumstances of the accident, which happened on Saturday night near the town of Niort, were yet to be clarified and an investigation was underway. Hoarau said, citing marks on the ground and a severed road sign:
“Everything suggests (the vehicle) came off the road.”
There were no witnesses, he said, complicating the investigation. The driver and three passengers were burned beyond recognition, he added.
A local judge said:
“An inquiry has been opened to determine the causes and circumstances of the deadly accident, a probe during which expertise on the vehicle will be requested.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla, founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk, has often come under scrutiny over safety issues with the cars it produces. In April, the firm reached a settlement with the family of a Silicon Valley engineer who died in a 2018 crash in a Tesla Model X.
According to court documents, the driver was travelling on a California highway using the car’s inbuilt autopilot feature. Suddenly, the car crashed into a concrete divider. The driver died on the spot.
According to US national regulators, Tesla recalled more than two million vehicles in the US and Canada in December due to risks associated with the autopilot software and a potential “increased risk of collision.”
The UK has also seen an increase in fires not only in lithium-ion battery electric vehicles, but also in electric bicycles, electric scooters and electric scooters.
In 2023, there has been a 70 per cent increase in the incidence of battery fires in electric bicycles. Fire and rescue services were 48% more likely to receive fire-related calls due to lithium-ion battery fires.
