Tesla electric car catches fire after hitting tow truck in Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Tesla Model 3 electric car caught fire after crashing right into a parked tow truck on a Moscow motorway late on Saturday, with the Tesla driver saying he had did not see the automobile with which he collided.

Asked in a video printed on REN TV web site if he was utilizing an Autopilot self-driving system, driver Alexei Tretyakov mentioned he was in a drive help mode in which he was nonetheless holding the steering wheel.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has stood by security claims for its Model 3 in the face of regulatory scrutiny, whereas paperwork confirmed the highest U.S. automotive security watchdog issued not less than 5 subpoenas since final 12 months in search of details about crashes involving the corporate’s automobiles.

Tretyakov mentioned was driving at round 100 km (62 miles) per hour — the velocity restrict — when the car crashed on its left facet into the stationary tow truck that he had not seen.

Footage of the incident on state TV channel Rossiya 24 confirmed the car by the facet of the street engulfed in flames and thick black smoke. Two small explosions occurred inside a number of seconds of one another and the metallic body of the automobile was all that remained after the fire, TV footage confirmed.

Russia’s RIA state information company web site posted a video displaying the car driving in the left-hand lane of Moscow’s ring street, often called the MKAD, earlier than crashing right into a tow truck parked by a security fence that separates the carriageway from oncoming site visitors.

The accident befell at round 2100 Moscow time (1800 GMT).

Tretyakov, a monetary market knowledgeable and the pinnacle of Arikapital funding firm, mentioned he broke his leg in the incident, whereas his two youngsters suffered solely bruises. They all escaped from the automobile.

Tesla was not instantly obtainable for a touch upon the incident outdoors regular enterprise hours.