first around the world EV race starts May 2012

[markwj]

Unfortunately Rapheal parked his Roadster a little bit to close to another car on a German freeway and thus ending the trip. According to his tweet and facebook messages he his all right.

View attachment 9379

Aw, crap. What a way for it to end, so close to home.

 

[markwj]

A hell of a journey.

Strictly speaking, east-to-west, he made have just made it. Too close to see whether his easternmost drive met up with his westernmost drive. Have to check GPS...

 

[dsm363]

Glad he's ok. He was so close to finishing too. What an adventure he took.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Not many people can say, "I drove from Barcelona to Germany -- via China!" Still, such a disappointment for the team.

 

[Adm]

As it would seem his car is at Tesla Munich already. I really hope they can fix the car soon so he can finish the trip.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

ouch! the Roadster looks so sad. Is there video from the onboard camera? or is it too sad to see?

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

That's sad indeed. That looks pretty totaled to me. Another one bites the dust! Raphael might have to spring for one of the last remaining new EU Roadsters if he can afford it.

Not looking forward to the inevitable totaled Model Ss in the future...

 

[wiztecy]

That sucks. Another front end collision of a roadster, it always hurts me seeing these pictures plus the ending to a magnificent journey and milestone (at least for now).

 

[Mitrovic]

May be they can fix the car? May be he can continue?
May be it is the brakes again?
Anyway, the journey was an incredible success! He can be proud of his achievement!

 

[jcstp]

beautiful trip
happy he is ok
hope the car is on itensive care and will recover soon

 

[markwj]

Strictly speaking, east-to-west, he made have just made it. Too close to see whether his easternmost drive met up with his westernmost drive. Have to check GPS...

I so wanted this to work...

According to the public KML published (disclaimer: I did the original work to publish this from OVMS data with Rafael), but have kept the below analysis to just the public KML records:

His most easterly point as he left Europe was 51.406368N, 12.242610E (Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ), 04435 Schkeuditz, Germany).

The accident seems to be near 47.827028N, 12.647771E (83313 Siegsdorf, Germany 7.6 m E).

After having driven 22,821km, with 167 charges on three continents, a dozen countries, he comes up 32.25 km short.

Perhaps his initial tweet of 'noooooooooo!!!!!!' was not too far off the mark.

 

[brianman]

Wow. When down to less than a full charge from "done", I think I'd be doing the multiple parking spot thing. And definitely not park near traffic.

 

[Adm]

If you have the stomage, here's the video of the accident:

 

[wiztecy]

I don't like videos capturing a Roadster crash, the sound of snapping carbon fiber.... <my heart sinks>. Let alone this milestone that was so close to being met. However its nice seeing he walk away from that and the roadster didn't take all that much damage for the velocity and forces encountered. I hope the frame is fine and its repairable.

 

[brianman]

@wiztecy - Emotional concerns aside w/r/t this particular vehicle I agree. In fact, for customer vehicles I generally agree. But videos from crash tests are a different beast; love to see more of those.

 

[surfingslovak]

Here is some local press coverage (with additional photos) and the corresponding police report:


The Dream Ends in Siegsdorf

On the A8: Three Accidents in a Row

 

[KangarooAustralia]

If you have the stomage, here's the video of the accident:

Ouch! :crying: All happened so fast. It would be interesting to see the 30 seconds or so leading up to the impact and a slow motion replay of the collision.

 

[Adm]

From his website:

2.9.2012 After 22.821 km of driving through desert sandstorms, heat till 53°C, baddest roads on earth and thunderstorms, the electric car reaches Germany and crashes into a car accident close before the finish line.
Nothing could stop the car from driving and now Rafael de Mestre is standing beside the rests of his car.
3.9.2012 Tesla service gives the first infomation that the car can be repaired, but it will last about 3 weeks in normal case. The insurance company Basler and Tesla will try to work together to accellerate the procedure of motor vehicle assesment ...

 

[jcstp]

From his website:

From the photos on the newssites I indeed have the impression it's repairable! The front-wheels where not hit!
Maybe a new frontmodule?

 

[Adm]

It would appear the damage was mostly cosmetic:

https://twitter.com/Chargelocator/status/242911541169643521/photo/1/large

Maybe he'll be on the road again faster than we think:

Tesla is repairing KIT with 5 technicians in parallel!

https://twitter.com/Chargelocator/status/242911541169643521