Electric vehicles have their benefits, but like anything, they can also have their flaws. Sometimes, those flaws can lead to potentially life-threatening situations.
Renee Sanchez, a Phoenix grandmother, was all set to enjoy a day at the zoo with her 20-month-old granddaughter. She placed her in the car seat, shut the door, and went to get into the driver’s seat.
However, she encountered a major problem…
“My car was dead,” she told AZFamily. “I could not get in. My phone key wouldn’t open it. My card key wouldn’t open it.”
With her granddaughter already strapped into her car seat, Sanchez had no choice but to call 911.
“And when they got here, the first thing they said was, ‘Uggh, it’s a Tesla. We can’t get in these cars,’” she recounted. “And I said, ‘I don’t care if you have to cut my car in half. Just get her out.’”
Initially, her granddaughter was “OK,” but as firefighters arrived and began using an axe to break the Tesla’s window, the little girl began to cry…
Once her granddaughter was safely in her arms, Sanchez’s initial relief turned to anger.
The 12-volt battery in her vehicle had died without warning. Drivers are supposed to receive three warnings before their batteries die, but Sanchez received none. A Tesla service department confirmed that no warnings were sent to her vehicle.
Sanchez now wants first responders to be educated on how to handle dead electric vehicles…
“They were as much in the dark as I was,” she said.
Despite the terrifying incident, Sanchez remains a fan of Tesla, though she’s now a bit more cautious.
“I give Tesla props. When it works, it’s great. But when it doesn’t, it can be deadly,” she said.
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