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So Sad… First Tesla Wreck in the Wild

Ouch, that does not look good.  Apparantly customer #6 drove his car into the back of a Mercedes while fighting traffic in San Francisco.  As expected, folks are already blaming the lack of “noise” generated by the car as being a factor.  Huh?  This was not a pedestrian getting hit, this was just your classic rear-end collision, almost always caused by aggressive tailgating.

While the damage does not look too bad, as most Lotus owners can tell you, this is not an inexpensive vehicle to repair.  Both front and rear “clams” will need to be replaced at a cost of approximately $10,000.  In addition, the suspension is very fragile, and often even low speed accidents will require replacement of some suspension pieces.  Heaven-forbid if a suspension mount is damaged, because the aluminum chassis is “non-repairable”, and has to be swapped out if bent or damaged in any way.


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13 Comments

  1. TeslaFan wrote:

    Ugh, that does not look good. I heard that the body panels on the Tesla and Lotus are pretty flimsy, and expensive. But, I guess if you can afford 100K for the Tesla, you can afford the repair costs.

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 6:20 pm | Permalink
  2. BillB wrote:

    Ah, that should just buff right out. :)

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 6:21 pm | Permalink
  3. Atniz wrote:

    Ouch.. this must have cost him an additional 10k.

    Atnizs last blog post..Wordless Wednesday

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 10:32 am | Permalink
  4. Haeze wrote:

    All body panels on the Tesla are Carbon Fiber… so yeah… that may be a bit expensive.

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 2:07 pm | Permalink
  5. Ethan Nobles wrote:

    Ouch! How hard did the driver of that thing cry? How ironic is it that the Mercedes was the “cheap” car involved in the accident?

    Ethan Nobless last blog post..Foxworthy update

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 2:45 pm | Permalink
  6. gsmith wrote:

    Haeze, you are right, I did not even think about that. The panels on the Lotus Elise/Exige are a fiber-resin composite, the Tesla’s carbon-fiber panels are probably even more expensive. Thanks for the comment.

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 3:12 pm | Permalink
  7. gsmith wrote:

    Ethan, thanks for commenting, I am sure he was bumming…

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 3:13 pm | Permalink
  8. Ouch! That is such a shame!

    Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 2:53 pm | Permalink
  9. gsmith wrote:

    Graham, thanks for stopping by, I agree, it is quite the shame.

    Also, thanks for EntreCard, and my recent ad!

    Friday, August 1, 2008 at 3:08 pm | Permalink
  10. Auto Blogger wrote:

    Ouch!!! This is really a costly mistake…

    Auto Bloggers last blog post..Get To Know About Classic Auto Insurance

    Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 4:37 pm | Permalink
  11. James wrote:

    I doubt the lack of sound played any part.

    Like most sports car drivers the owner was probably breaking all the rules of driving.

    Still, if he can afford a Tesla Roadster then he can afford to have it repaired.

    James.
    http://the-goodlife.blogspot.com

    Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 5:26 am | Permalink
  12. gsmith wrote:

    Ouch, I take offense to that. I think saying that most sports car drivers break all the rules is a little dramatic. I have owned sports cars all my life, and not only do I drive safe, I also have had no accidents or tickets in over 10 years.

    I know of many responsible sports car drivers. And, just because you can afford to have a car repaired, doesn’t make it any easier…

    But, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it!

    Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 11:41 pm | Permalink
  13. promosyon wrote:

    I always read your blog in high spirits. Thanks :)

    Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 8:34 am | Permalink

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