Connect with us

News

Watch first responders rip apart a Tesla Model X (Video)

The Tesla Model X presents unique challenges for fire and rescue personnel. This video demonstrates how to access a damaged car safely to reach people who may be injured or trapped inside.

Published

on

A question came up during yesterday’s Q&A portion of the Tesla shareholder meeting about how firefighters and first responders can extricate passengers safely from a Tesla. CEO Elon Musk quickly asserted that the company has provided Emergency Responder Guides on its website that outlines steps on how first responders can tend to victims trapped within the vehicle.

The following video by Brook Archer of Advanced Extrications and Randall Welles, assistant chief of the Denver Fire Department, gives a never-before-seen look at the challenges firefighters may face when working around the Model X’s unique falcon wing doors, coupled with high strength steel and high voltage cables.

Both men seen in the video compliment Tesla Motors for working closely with the fire and rescue community to protect first responders from injury while working to save lives. Based on suggestions made to the company by first responders, the DC/DC converter in the Model X has been moved from the right front wheel wheel to the center of the firewall. The charging controller has also been relocated to inside the rear quarter panel on the driver’s side. Both changes make access easier and safer for rescue personnel.

Advertisement

The video shows the location of manual pull cords that will release the latches for the front trunk lid, read deck lid, and both falcon wing doors if no 12 volt power is available. But sometimes, more extreme measures need to be taken.

Tesla has employed high strength boron steel in the areas surrounding all doors, The video delineates precisely where it is used so rescuers can avoid it with their cutting tools. In the video, workers demonstrate how to completely remove a falcon wing door and the B pillar the supports the roof between it and the front door of the Model X.

After breaking the window in the falcon wing door, a hydraulic ram is used to sever the connection between the upper and lower segments of the door. Then an hydraulic shear can remove the top half of the door from its hinges and sever the B pillar entirely in order to extricate anyone who may be severely injured inside. Despite its high safety ratings and 10 air bags, the Model X is not an impregnable fortress. People can still be injured, sometimes critically, in extreme circumstances.

No one expects to be hurt while riding in a Tesla, but if the worst happens, rescue personnel will need proper training to access the inside of the vehicle quickly and safely to remove injured parties and rush them to the nearest medical treatment facility.

Advertisement

Source: Advanced Extrications via YouTube

"I write about technology and the coming zero emissions revolution."

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

Published

on

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.

Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.

Advertisement

Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.

The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.

Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.

These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.

Advertisement

Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.

Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.

The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Elon Musk

FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

Published

on

Credit: @SecWar/X

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.

The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.

Advertisement

Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.

“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.

Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.

Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.

Advertisement

Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.

SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.

Continue Reading

Energy

Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Energy/X

Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.

The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.

Advertisement

Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.

Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.

Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.

The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.

Advertisement

Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.

The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.

At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.

Advertisement
Continue Reading