Eco car crash, Prius rearends Tesla, pushes it under Touareg..

[Fumesucker]

This crash happened in Denmark, a brand new Tesla Roadster was rearended by a Prius and ended up underneath a VW Touareg. Luckily no one was seriously injured in the mishap.

It's interesting that the Tesla passenger compartment maintained its integrity despite having been hit from the rear and the front and then having a large SUV sitting right on top of it.

http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1037103_tesla-roadster-toyota-prius-vw-touareg-crash-in-denmark

[flvegan]

1. It's actually not interesting how the Tesla held up.

See, folks that build cars like the Tesla or any other "supercar" take into consideration that the folks that might pilot one of those cars will do so with great enthusiasm. And thankfully, will build protection into them.

What's interesting is how the common consumer isn't as important. Hell, many years ago the Pontiac Fiero was little more than a rollcage with an engine (albeit sadly encased in a very flammable package). Why doesn't the Camry/Accord/Malibu/Altima also protect Jimmy and Jane Average the same. Technology is there.

[Fumesucker]

2. The Prius did pretty well too..

That was a fairly energetic collision and yet the driver walked away.

My ex had an Altima and was involved in a crash that totaled three cars including hers and damaged two more, she came out with only bruises..

Then she crashed a Q45 hard enough to total it and a pickup and send the driver to the hospital, she came out of that one OK too.

Both vehicles were early to mid 90's so not up to current standards.

[DainBramaged]

3. Was the Peeus jealous?

:rofl:

[AzNick]

4. Lots of speed involved...

Looks like the 2 cars in the front were either stopped or going very slowly and the Prius was probably going at around 50 mph at least.

Note that the same crash 30 years ago would have cost 2 lives or more and none of the vehicles would have survived (looks like the van will live another day).

Now, how much is a Tesla? :)

[Tesha]

7. That one? About €1.95. (NT)

[Craftsman]

5. I saw a Prius between a F250 and a Suburban

The Prius was a lot shorter.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Another Photo of the crash...dial up warning

UPDATE: 7:30 p.m. Eastern: Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad sent us this e-mail:

This was a customer car but the customer was not driving or in the car at the time. The driver stopped at a red light behind a truck and was hit from behind by a VW Touareg driving at 80km/hour at the time of impact. The Roadster driver walked away with minor bruises.

As reader dougdirac notes in the comments below, there’s a thread at Tesla Motors Club and a couple of pictures on Flickr. According to the information on those two sites, the silver car — a Toyota Avensis — allegedly hit the Touareg, forcing it into the Roadster.

The photo was posted on Flickr by skagman.

UPDATE: 11 p.m. Eastern time: Got an email from Doug at Tesla Motors Club who says that’s definitely a Toyota Prius, not an Avensis, in the pic. (Commenters made the same observation.) The latest word is the Prius allegedly hit the Roadster, pushing it under the Touareg, and Doug notes there a piece of the Roadster jammed under the rear bumper of the Touareg.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/10/tesla-totalled/

[Robb]

8. This seems like the spot to trot out this old chestnut:

...from my first winter in the mountains, one of my favorite snapshots ever: