A spokeswoman said it was not known whether the auto was using “autopilot”, Tesla’s driving assistance technology, at the time of the crash, and that would form part of the investigation.
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The automotive firm also confirm autopilot was not engaged, evident in the car’s logs, during the drivers entire journey.
“The vehicle was so badly damaged that the firefighters could not operate its security systems”, continued Boer.
Dutch media outlets published pictures showing pieces of the auto strewn across the road, including small fires that appear to have been ignited by battery cells that broke free from the underbody battery pack.
A Tesla spokesperson reportedly said: “We are undertaking a full investigation and will share our findings as soon as possible”. It took firefighters hours to remove his body from the scene for fear of electrocution.
Tesla says “Autopilot” wasn’t engaged when the Model S crashed while traveling almost 100 miles per hour. Tesla and Dutch authorities were investigating the incident Wednesday. Crews are said to be familiar with verifying battery disconnections following collisions, but only if the vehicle is mostly intact. Firefighters were not certain of the severity of the wreck, so they waited several hours before pulling the man’s body from the wreckage.
Tesla is also probing an incident in France in August when a Model S sedan caught fire during a test drive in the southwestern town of Bayonne.
The system allows the vehicle to automatically change lanes, maintain a set speed and brake to avoid a collision. Drivers must acknowledge, when they activate Autopilot, that the system is in beta-test and that they are responsible for the vehicle.
Tesla has cautioned that the system, introduced previous year, is not fully autonomous and drivers should be at the wheel and ready to take control.
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U.S. federal regulators also recorded two fires involving the Model S, one each in the states of Washington and Tennessee in 2013.
