Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Piedmont Police Chief Jeremy Bowers said speed was likely a factor in the single-vehicle crash, but added that authorities will continue to investigate the circumstances of the crash.
Passengers in the Cyber Truck were returning from a “function” around 3:10 a.m. Wednesday, but Bowers would not provide further details. Someone who was also present at the event, but driving in a separate car, managed to pull the surviving victim out of the cyber truck.
The chief would not release any identifying details of the victims, citing family privacy.
Although the responding policemen were unable to extinguish the fire with their fire extinguishers, the fire department brought the fire under control quickly.
Piedmont Fire Chief Dave Brannigan said the speed with which the flames were extinguished meant the Cybertruck’s large lithium-ion battery was unlikely to catch fire. He described the incident as “more along the lines of a normal car fire”.
“There is no indication that there was mechanical impact that was the primary cause of the collision,” Bowers said, addressing a question about recent Cybertruck recalls.
The Cybertruck, which has been on sale for about a year, has been recalled six times for safety issues, most recently on Nov. 5 because a fault in the electric inverter could lose power to the drive wheels.
Other memories are covered. Rear view camera images that don’t activate immediately after shifting into reverse, trim pieces that can fall off, windshield wipers that can fail, and the wrong font size on instrument panel warning lights. In April, Future trucks were recalled to fix gas pedals that could get stuck in the interior trim.
Piedmont is about 2.5 miles (4 km) northeast of downtown Auckland.