Photo: AXA

The insurance company AXA conducted a fake crash test in which it simulated the ignition of a Tesla Model S battery. Even after the revelation, the company was in no hurry to make clarifying amendments to its report.

The insurance group AXA has publicly conducted two crash tests with electric vehicles. The first focused on the vulnerable underbody with the batteries placed there. They simulated an accident in which Tesla Model S allegedly accelerates strongly, enters a springboard, bounces, rolls over in the air and falls on the roof onto the ground. After that, smoke and sparks of flame begin to escape from the bottom of the car, so that it seemed that the vehicle's battery caught fire. Any inexperienced observer would surely have thought that the Tesla Model S battery caught fire easily.

However, as it turns out, the demonstration was completely staged and was meant to show that electric cars catch fire more often than ICE cars, according to 24auto.de. Perhaps the insurance company wanted to justify its higher insurance premiums for electric car owners, but did so not with data (which could not support this claim), but with a misleading staged video.

The Tesla Model S crash test by the insurance company AXA was just a showcase event without any real learning. The company later admitted that no batteries were installed in the car and that the fire was faked using pyrotechnics. In addition, obviously, removing the battery pack from the car completely changed its behavior and in a similar accident, in reality, the car will certainly drive completely differently, because the heavy battery often prevents the car from rolling over.

“For safety reasons, at the event with the participation of about 500 people, it was not possible to light a real battery fire, so a fire was staged with pyrotechnics,” the AXA press service said at the request of 24auto.de.

In addition, it should be kept in mind that all Tesla vehicles have been rigorously tested by many recognized automotive safety agencies around the world and have received five-star safety ratings, becoming the best in their segment. ADAC, after the respective crash tests at its technical center in Landberg am Lech, stated that: “None of the current electric vehicles has had negative crash test results so far. Compared to cars with a conventional engine, the safety of electric vehicles is often even better due to the optimized design of the car in a collision.”

This fake video caused massive damage to Tesla's reputation, even though the AXA demonstration was exposed. Their report and video have already been shared on social media and picked up by many media around the world.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts; follow him on Twitter

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