What must first responders do around a Model S to stay safe?

First Responders | Tesla Motors

 

Under the hood there is a plastic tag with a picture of a fire helmet on it strapped to a wire. I believe this shuts off the 12v system and therefore deactivating the 400V system as well. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

 

Yes that's correct. High Voltage contactor is disengaged thus deactivated by cutting the wire.

 

There are two "cut loops" in a newer Model S vehicle. The first, as noted, is the fireman's loop under the hood. Pull the tag out, cut the loop in two places (cut a segment out). The second is behind the rear driver's door - open the door and with a circular saw cut through the body about 1.5-2" deep along the line indicated; this will disable the contactor and safety systems as well. Older cars do not have this second loop.

The other thing that first responders need to know is not to use the outside door rail as leverage for a dash roll because of the high voltage cable routing; in older cars, the DC-DC converter placement needs to be considered.

The First Responder's Guide (linked above) shows the location of the airbag inflators (responders want to avoid these too when performing extraction).

The first video (sad to watch, they destroy the car) is a good video but is based on the first-generation Model S, and quite a few things have changed since then - so make sure they look at the guides and PDF's (they're up to date).

 

Many thanks for the info on the 2nd 'cut loop' at the rear door jamb. I was wondering why my wife's new S70D had the sticker on the jamb and mine did not. Wonder why TM felt the need to add it? Any known bad collisions where the power could not be cut from the frunk? BTW, any idea when/what VIN is the cutoff? Thx.

 

First thing I asked when doing the training: "what happens in a frontal collision where the responder's loop is crushed?" It seems many asked Tesla the same question. In most cases, such a collision will blow the pyro fuse and accomplish the same thing, but it's a good backup.

Tesla's guides say June 2013 was the changeover.

 

Thank you for sharing the video. I learned a lot about my car, it's structure and some electrical theory.
A must see.
Thanks again,
~Larry