Can a Fire Stop The Falcon Wing Doors on a Tesla Model X?

A video has surfaced on Youtube that contains pictures of a head-on collision of a Tesla Model X. The pictures show both cars on fire so the source of the fire’s origin is in question. The crash happened in February in a city in China and Tesla is reviewing the circumstances around it. But the question remains as to can a fire stop the Falcon Wing Doors from opening on a Tesla?

Presently the video describes the incident as follows: The driver of the Tesla Model X was a chauffeur and he was driving two passengers to their destination. Once the fire started, the two in the rear seats could not get the Falcon Wing doors to open. As a result, they say, they climbed out the front window to escape the blaze that engulfed the car shortly after they managed to get free from the car.

You can see the video here:

So the owner of the car and her boyfriend are seated in the rear seats next to the Falcon Wing Doors and after the crash state, they tried to open the doors but couldn’t. As a result of their trouble, the owner of the car is suing for $8,000,000 Chinese Yuan. The video also states that the Falcon Wing doors have an emergency latch located behind the speaker cover however that information is not located in the owner’s manual but only in a publication for first responders so the video claims that it is quite understandable that the passengers would not know of the emergency escape latch in the rear seat of the car.

The passenger of that Model X stated she received a broken nose and cut lip that required 20+ stitches and that the driver had to be hospitalized for 40 days as a result of the accident.

In general, Tesla cars have been much less likely to be involved in a fire than gasoline cars and in this case, it is inconclusive whether or not the fire was started by the Tesla. The question is, in the event of a fire externally or internally, will it prevent passengers from exiting the car if stuck in the rear of the car. While the car does have safety manual Falcon Wing Door latches, are the consumers adequately notified of the location of these latches?