August 29, 2025
"He was eight inches shorter in length than he was before he burned. That’s thermal fracture.... Not only are you riding on top of 3,000 pounds of batteries, this 'spaceship' design is a double-edged sword."
Said the plaintiff's lawyer, quoted in "Family sues Tesla after Cybertruck owner dies in 5,000-degree inferno, causing bones to disintegrate" (NY Post).
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17 comments:
Unsafe at any Speed.
We had lots of automobile fires before electric fires became a thing. Something about gasoline ...
"US fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 215,096 vehicle fires in the United States from 2018–2022, representing 16 percent of the 1.4 million total fire incidents.
From 2018–2022, only fires in one- and two-family homes caused more estimated civilian deaths than vehicle fires. Vehicle fires were estimated to have caused 5.5 times the number of deaths caused by nonresidential structure fires and 1.6 times the number of deaths caused by apartment fires."
https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/research/nfpa-research/fire-statistical-reports/vehicle-fires
How is this any different than sitting on top of 25 gallons of explosive gasoline?
If it was 5000 degrees, exactly what were they measuring? I doubt incinerators operate at that temperature.
If you wanna be "green" and happen to die in a vehicle fire, either gasoline or burning batteries saves money relative to the cost of cremation.
"If it was 5000 degrees, exactly what were they measuring?"
Does it matter? Would they be happier if it was only 4,000 degrees?
I asked Grok at what temperature do people get creamated at and he said about 1,400 degrees to 2,000 degrees. This is enough to literally turn an entire body to ash so you'd never know how much shorter this makes a person (but I'm assuming it would be a LOT more than 8 inches.)
He was also “overserved?” Might that have played a role in him unable to get out of the car? (I’ve never been in a Tesla, so I don’t know how hard it is to find the switch or handle to manually unlock the door when the vehicle loses power).
Does it matter?
I wouldn’t think so, but if some dumb law clerk is going to introduce a measurement into the court case, then it becomes an issue on the credibility of the law clerk. This law clerk looks like an idiot to me for bringing it up.
Getting burned to death is one thing. But Burning to death at 5000 degrees is really horrible.
Reminds of people getting upset because the police shot someone 50 times. OMG 50 times. If only they'd killed him with 2 bullets.
The problem with lithium battery fires is that they are self-sustaining with no practical means to douse.
@Formerlawclerk - If I’m not mistaken, cremation doesn’t turn you into ash. It just burns away the tissue so you are just a skeleton. Then they put the skeleton into a grinder.
Good morning, everyone!
The fire that melts lead tempers steel.
@RCOCEAN II: "Getting burned to death is one thing. But Burning to death at 5000 degrees is really horrible."
Tell that to the people who were burned alive inside the ancient Greek brazen (bellowing) bull.
Being burnt to death is one of the most painful ways to go. If I had a choice of being slow roasted or quickly incinerated, the 5,000°F sounds like a better choice.
That is one scary way to describe dying in a car wreck. Which is appropriate, I suppose. Dying in a car wreck is scary.
But we’re not outlawing cars, so it’s going to happen from time to time.
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