South Korean police look into fatal crash of Tesla Model X

South Korean police are looking into a fatal crash of a Tesla Inc. electric vehicle after its driver told them it went out of control after sudden acceleration and hit a wall in a parking lot in Seoul.

The accident, which occurred on Wednesday night in the parking lot of a Seoul apartment building, killed the owner of the car and injured two others, as the car smashed into a wall and caught fire, police said.

According to the police, the driver, who was driving the Tesla Model X on behalf of the owner, told them he wasn’t able to control the vehicle as it suddenly accelerated and smashed into the wall.

Fire authorities believe the fire started from the battery of the car after it hit the wall.

“We’re investigating the accident to determine whether the accident was the driver’s fault or due to problems with the car,” said a police officer.

Police said they will ask the National Forensic Service to investigate the exact cause of the accident.

Tesla officials were not immediately available for comment.

TOP-HINGED REAR DOORS

According to local daily Dong-A Ilbo, emergency responders had difficulty getting the owner out of the vehicle, the Model X Long Range, with top-hinged rear doors that open upwards, because its door handles didn’t extend and were inaccessible.

“There are cases where batteries on Tesla vehicles caught fire after being involved in car accidents in the US,” said Lee Ho-geun, automotive engineering professor at Daeduk University.

“Electric cars mostly use lithium-ion batteries, which react sensitively to moisture. When exposed to air, such batteries could easily catch fire and explode if dropped in water in a worst-case scenario.”

Tesla sold more than 11,000 EV cars in South Korea in the first eleven months of the year, up sharply from 2,430 cars in 2019, according to a tally by CarIsYou Data Research Institute.

Write to Da Eun Choi at max@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.