First responders call it a miracle that occupants inside a Tesla Model Y survived a horrific crash.
NBC News
First responders frequently go to Devil's Slide, 20 miles south of San Francisco on Highway 1. It's a scenic but treacherous drive, with the road just a few feet from an edge and a 250-foot drop to the rocky beach below. Unfortunately, fire and ambulance crews were again called to the area on Monday, January 2. But this time it was different.
Brian Pottenger, battalion chief with Cal Fire's Coastside Fire Protection District, said, "We go there all the time for cars over the cliff, and they never live. This was an absolute miracle." He stated, "the damage to the vehicle would indicate that it hit, and then flipped several times," and that is why crews were shocked when they spotted movement inside the wreckage.
Safest Vehicle in the World
The fire department tweeted some horrific images from the scene. But you can make out that the wreckage is a white Tesla Model Y, one of the safest vehicles in the world. Incredibly, all four people inside the Model Y, two adults and two children, a 4-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl survived. The children were unharmed, and the adults suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Sadly, the police have determined the crash was intentional and have arrested the driver, Dharmesh A. Patel, on suspicion of attempted murder and child abuse.
Tesla's mission is to "accelerate the advent of sustainable transport vehicles," but it prioritizes safety in its design. The website states: Tesla vehicles are engineered to be the safest in the world. Each one combines powerful onboard technology with an all-electric design to help protect every driver, passenger, and pedestrian on the road.
Commitment to Safety Continues
That's not just rhetoric, as proven in this horrible crash. The Model S, 3, X and Y have received five out of five stars on every test run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including rollover protection. They have also been scored with the lowest overall probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by the U.S. government's New Car Assessment Program. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has numerous times given Teslas the top safety pick. Most recently, calling the Model 3 the Top Safety Pick of 2022.
Tesla hasn't stopped there. Last year it introduced a Seat Belt System Enhancement. The enhanced onboard camera system detects when a crash is imminent and applies tension to the seatbelt. Regrettably, the seatbelt system hasn't been improved for decades. It only tightens the belt once the vehicle has made an impact.
Tesla's commitment to safety clearly played a significant factor in saving those four lives and has undoubtedly saved thousands of other people from injury and death.
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On January 1st, in what could potentially have been related to other terror-related incidents, a Cybertruck loaded with firework mortars, gas, and other explosive materials, was detonated outside a Trump-affiliated hotel. This information was provided at a press conference from the Las Vegas Police Department. The FBI has declared that the incident was intentional and that it is being investigated as a potential act of terrorism.
The press conference confirmed that the only fatality was the driver. Several others were treated at a local hospital.
🚨 JUST IN: CNN reports the Cybertruck explosion at Trump Tower Vegas came from a detonation system controlled by the driver, plus explosives such as fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel.
We’re going to specifically look at what happened, how the Cybertruck potentially reduced the damage to the hotel and bystanders, and Elon Musk’s comments on the incident.
The Incident
After the detonation, the Cybertruck’s cabin was on fire, which kept burning until first responders managed to put it out with a combination of water and a tarp. Interestingly, even after the detonation, the Cybertruck’s battery was intact. There was no battery fire, and the battery did itself did not explode.
🚨New footage of the Tesla Cybertruck exploding in front of the Trump hotel
In fact, as you can see in the picture below, the tires are still intact, and even one of the headlights is on - indicating that the incident did not damage the battery. Once the fire continued, the pyro fuze blew, which cut any remaining power and isolated the high-voltage battery from other electrical systems in the truck.
The Cybertruck in the immediate moments after the explosion, with the cabin burning but the headlights on.
Not a Tesla App
Shortly after the incident, authorities released imagery of the bed of the Cybertruck, which was confirmed to be loaded with leftover fireworks and gas tanks. Authorities are crediting the Cybertruck’s exoskeleton exterior with reducing the damage done. The bed of the Cybertruck contained the explosion and directed it upwards and outwards rather than around the vehicle.
The image released by authorities with the remains of the explosives in the bed.
Not a Tesla App
This essentially meant that rather than serving as a vehicle-based improvised explosive device (VBIED), Cybertruck essentially stopped the explosion with the strength of its frame and exoskeleton. It is interesting to see just how strong and resilient the truck is, even when the explosion originated from within, rather than outside it.
🚨 #BREAKING: Las Vegas Police release new video of the exploded Cybertruck outside of the Trump Hotel, showing explosive ordinances in the back
Police credited the lack of damage to the Trump Hotel to the strength of the Cybertruck, as it remained mostly intact.
Elon commented throughout the incident and in the following hours.
Shortly after the incident, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla’s teams were investigating the incident, and then shortly afterward confirmed that the Cybertruck - at least up to the point of the explosion, was reporting nominal vehicle health.
In the hours after the incident, it was revealed that both the Cybertruck, as well as the F-150 Lightning used in the other terror-related incident, were rented from Turo, as per Elon. Turo is a company that works with vehicle owners to arrange rentals of their vehicles, netting them some extra income while their vehicle is used by someone else.
Turo’s peer-to-peer model has resulted in an exceptionally high number of insurance claims and incidents relative to standardized vehicle rentals, with unauthorized drivers stealing or damaging rented vehicles, modifying them, or doing other less-than-above-board tasks with them. After this incident, Turo has come under a considerable amount of scrutiny in how it rents out vehicles.
Musk also commented that the Cybertruck was the worst vehicle for this kind of terrorist attack. The truck redirected the explosion upward, reducing potential injuries and property damage. Even the hotel’s glass doors remained intact.
In the lead-up to the Q4 2024 Earnings Call on January 29th, Tesla has released its Q4 2024 production and delivery numbers. This wraps up 2024, and while Tesla finished with a strong Q4, the total deliveries are slightly below the previous year.
For Q4, Tesla produced 459,445 vehicles and delivered 495,570 vehicles to its customers globally. For comparison, in Q3, Tesla produced about 10,000 more vehicles than in Q4, but Q4 deliveries were about 30,000 higher.
As usual, the Model 3 and Model Y accounted for the majority of sales, 436,718 vehicles produced and 471,930 vehicles deliveed. The Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X are lumped in as “Other Models” - totaling 22,727 produced and 23,640 delivered this quarter. This is about 700 more than the previous quarter. With Cybertruck production ramping up and sales expanding to Canada, this likely means dwindlingly for the Model S and Model X.
While production was relatively stagnant, Tesla experienced a fairly large growth in deliveries, likely due to the recent end-of-year and end-of-quarter sales push, which included the updated referral program and inventory vehicle price cuts.
It also seems like some demand has been tempered, as many people await the arrival of the refreshed Model Y Juniper, which is rumored to arrive in China as early as later this month.
Q4 2024 Breakdown
Model
Production
Deliveries
Model 3/Y
436,718
471,930
Other Models (Including CT)
22,727
23,640
Total
459,445
495,570
2024 Annual Breakdown
Model
Production
Deliveries
Model 3/Y
1,679,338
1,704,093
Other Models (Including CT)
94,105
85,133
Total
1,773,443
1,789,226
Year over year, Tesla produced and delivered slightly fewer Model 3 and Model Y vehicles than in 2023, but they did produce and deliver more of their Other Models - which includes the Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck.
It seems that Cybertruck has made a significant impact in the sales of the other models category, and given that it has already become profitable, this is fantastic news for Tesla. On the flip side, this does look like it means weaker sales for the Model S and Model X, which both seem in dire need of a refresh.
Below is a chart of the last five years of Tesla vehicle deliveries broken down by quarter. Tap on each section to reveal the numbers for each quarter.
7 Millionth Vehicle
During this past quarter, Tesla also hit a huge milestone by delivering their seven millionth vehicle. Tesla is delivering about 1.8 million vehicles per year, so we expect Tesla to also sell their eight millionth vehicle around mid-year and potentially their nine millionth later this year. With the Model Y being the world’s best-selling vehicle, it’s expected to have a huge surge in sales when the refreshed model is finally released.
Tesla Energy
Over on the Tesla energy side, Tesla deployed 11GWh of energy storage - a record for both deliveries and deployments. That is a 243% year-over-year increase since last year - and Mega Shanghai isn’t even operational yet. In total, Tesla deployed 31.4 GWh of energy storage throughout 2024.
Q4 2024 Earnings Call
The next major financial event for Tesla is the Q4 2024 Earnings Call, which will be taking place after market close on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. The call will be streamed on Tesla’s Investor Relations website, and we’ll provide a recap for you as well.
