Another R1T crash, this one even worse. Bursts into flames @ Irvine

[moosehead]

Uh, I'm just speculating here, but the dood was carrying some speed, missed the turn, and t-boned a light pole.

One does not have to stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night to come up with that either.

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[AllInev]

Actually the vehicle is more valuable for Rivian to study how it survived the crash and if there are any opportunities for improvement.

Agree, the driver should hold-out for a really good price for it from Rivian. ;-)

 

[svet-am]

Agree, the driver should hold-out for a really good price for it from Rivian. ;-)

I hear the market for "lightly used" cars is really good right now.

 

[PAFDenver]

What makes us think this wasn't the primary battery on fire? There's nothing else that'd be that flammable on the exterior of the truck, so I'd suspect the flames were coming out from underneath.

Even though they're rolling up a fire hose, I don't see much water at all on the ground. I'd like more info, but I know I won't get it.

I agree. I am obviously guessing, but I think that was probably the main Li battery. All the plastic on the front is gone and to my untrained eyes it looks like the outside skin on the driver's door is gone! Which I assume means melted. Not sure what the skin is, but I would guess Al or steel. Aluminum needs ~1200F to melt, which is not THAT hot, but I would expect the energy required to completely melt the door's skin is pretty substantial. I would guess that was a pretty substantial fire and the only source with that much energy would seem like the main battery.
I am a little worried it caught on fire from that crash. That's a substantial pole, but as it's still standing after being rammed by an ~8000lb vehicle I can't believe it was traveling very fast at the time of impact. I certainly don't know any details about the incident, but not very confidence inspiring for me. The other crashes I have seen with Teslas and other EVs all seem much more extreme. However, it is good that the FD was able to extinguish it before it consumed the entire vehicle. I wonder if fire fighters now carry foam for EVs on their trucks now.

 

[SANZC02]

Funny everyone has a different take on this.

For me all positive, trucks can be replaced (although probably take time for a Rivian). The positive news, cabin looks good, airbag deployments look good, driver was able to exit the vehicle, appears to be standing around talking to the police and refused any first aid.

From my perspective, that is a successful crash. Nothing more I would ask for from this.

 

[zefram47]

Yes, coming down a highway off-ramp at high speed COULD be the result of failed/failing brakes. I sure hope that's not ruled out as a possible cause and that someone does their job and investigates rather than just makes assumptions.

Highly unlikely given the amount of regen this vehicle has in addition to friction brakes.

 

[kylealden]

Should the final police report becomes available and it indicates anything other than excess speed / wreckless driving, I will eat my laptop.

It's definitely not wreckless driving, we all saw the wreck!

 

[virgnia_rivian]

Not a first responder, but when I worked in news I covered dozens of head on crashes into poles like this. The fact the driver just walked away unscathed speaks to the safety features. I've seen much worse.

We have no idea what would cause a fire, and it's all pure speculation while authorities investigate. The R1T safety systems seemed to work well and the front end did a good job of absorbing the impact.

 

[RivianXpress]

I see the hood isn't aligned and also panel gaps... hopefully the next one has better QA before it leaves the factory.

 

[lefkonj]

Can’t force people to go

That wasn't my point. The person was conscious to refuse care and walking around talking with Cops. Some other vehicles a crash like that would mean a stretcher and ER.

 

[dleewla]

I’m sure Rivian is as we speak, reaching out to local news telling them to pull the video because of proprietary technology.

good luck with that Rivian. anyways, once Munro gets their reservation order, its going to be taken apart for the world to see.

 

[mgc0216]

I'm not convinced that's not somebody's kid out joyriding dad's new truck, but I'm old and everyone looks about 10 years younger than they are to my eyes at this point.

Also, 99% sure they either were trying to race the light or they were trying to take off like a bat out of hell and get a little loose leaving the stop light - either way they wrote a check they couldn't cash and the slammed into the pole. The fact he's just standing there wondering how he's going to explain that to either his dad or his boss is a tribute to the engineering that went into the rig.

Reminds me of one of my first days driving to high school. I was leaving one day and someone at the corner stop sign said "peel out". I slammed the accelerator on a 67 impala while turning right, threw the back end around over corrected, hopped the curb, and literally ended up in the front grass of the school with all the students on the busses staring at me. My response "the accelerator stuck".

 

[RivianXpress]

What's recorded on the Yeti-cam??

 

[MJB28]

What about the automatic braking in emergencies?
I guess that didn’t work or not so good?

 

[Jehorton]

That wasn't my point. The person was conscious to refuse care and walking around talking with Cops. Some other vehicles a crash like that would mean a stretcher and ER.

Lol not necessarily, you can see some terrible crashes with no injuries and you can see the absolute minimal damage with people getting transported. I see it everyday.

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