The more you know…
In case you were wondering, no, Elon Musk didn’t make Teslas buoyant enough to float in a swimming pool. One Tesla driver found this out the hard way on January 10, hitting the accelerator instead of the brake pedal, sending the electric car careening into a backyard pool in Pasadena, California. Thankfully, the two adults and child who were in the Tesla got out with the help of some good Samaritans, according to the Pasadena Fire Department.
Recall a horrific accident when a C8 Corvette landed in a pool here.
Teslas and other EVs are incredibly heavy, making them like wrecking balls in an accident. This situation clearly illustrates that as the vehicle crashed through a wall like the Kool Aid Man before plunging into the pool. All that extra weight probably helped the car sink faster, so again we’re glad everyone made it out.
This is hardly the first time a driver has mistaken the accelerator and brake pedals. Many brands have been taken to court over these kinds of driver errors while members of the media and the public have tried claiming some sort of manufacturer defect. Even with all the modern onboard safety systems, this still is an issue.
Someone dug up a screen capture of what they claim is an old tweet from Elon Musk, which the Tesla CEO posted in June 2016. In the capture, he apparently claimed the Model S “flats well enough to turn it into a boat for short periods of time.” The Tesla in the pool looks like it might be a Model 3, maybe a Model Y, but we’re pretty sure it isn’t a Model S. Still, the person who posted a screen capture of Musk’s tweet was wondering if the driver/owner of the Tesla in the pool has some sort of truth in advertising claim. We’re not attorneys, so we can’t comment on the legal viability of such a thing, but as car enthusiasts we find the Musk claim and this possibility equally ridiculous.
Image via Twitter
