Three people were killed and one seriously injured early Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck crashed and caught fire in Northern California, officials said.
Piedmont Police Chief Jeremy Bowers said speed was likely a factor in the single-vehicle collision, but he added that authorities would continue to investigate the circumstances of the tragedy.
The Cybertruck’s occupants had been driving back from a “function” around 3:10 a.m. Wednesday, but Bowers would not give additional details. Someone who also had been at the function, but was driving in a separate car, was able to pull the surviving victim out of the Cybertruck.
The chief would not release any identifying details of the victims, citing family privacy.
Although the police officers who responded were unable to douse the flames with their fire extinguishers, the fire department put the blaze out quickly.
Piedmont Fire Chief Dave Brannigan said the speed in extinguishing the flames meant it was unlikely that the Cybertruck’s large lithium-ion battery had caught fire. He called the incident “more along the lines of a typical car fire.”
Bowers, addressing a question about recent Cybertruck recalls, said “there’s no indication that there were mechanical effects that were the primary cause for the collision.”
The Cybertruck, which has been on sale for about a year, has been recalled six times for safety problems, most recently on Nov. 5 because a fault in an electric inverter can cause the drive wheels to lose power.
Other recalls covered rearview camera images that don’t activate immediately after shifting into reverse, trim pieces that can fall off, windshield wipers that can fail, and an incorrect font size on instrument panel warning lights. In April, the futuristic trucks were recalled to fix gas pedals that can get stuck in the interior trim.
The city of Piedmont is about 2.5 miles (4 km) northeast of Oakland.