Are Basel's Tesla cars the world's most dangerous police vehicles?
Its stock is in free fall with record losses in the last quarter, fatal accidents, and a boss who makes negative headlines with his statements: Tesla is having a hard time right now. Nevertheless, the Basel police has decided to use electric cars as its official vehicles.
Yes, there was even praise from the Tesla boss himself when the Basel police announced that they would be taking care of law and order in Tesla cars in the future. At that time, two months ago, things were still looking quite good for the American company - although on closer inspection the company's disintegration had already become clear. Since then, the company, established by entrepreneur Elon Musk is no longer in such good shape.
Tesla’s stock is now plummeting, its boss is making the headlines and the mid-range model «Tesla 3» is performing badly in sales. In addition, there is further bad news about Tesla cars catching fire. Just a week ago, there was also a fatal accident in the south of Switzerland on the A2, where a Tesla had caught fire. The local fire brigade were placed under further stress because the vehicle could not be extinguished in any conventional way. More than 11,000 litres of water are needed to control the fire in an electric car. An Austrian fire brigade documented their first experience with a Tesla fire:
A total of 7,000 small lithium-ion cells form part of the battery in a Tesla. If they overheat and ignite, the vehicle can go up in flames over again and again - even many hours later, after the first fire has been extinguished. A German fire brigade therefore had to store a burning electric vehicle in a container for three days to ensure that the battery had cooled down safely. Tesla immediately published a guide in its own handbook on what rescue workers should do in the event of a fire. As a result, Basel's emergency services are now reading up on the topic so that they are prepared in case of an emergency. They cannot practice this on the expensive Teslas that are already on the streets, because it would completely ruin the vehicles.
After the fire in Ticino, the rescue services first suspected that the battery itself triggered the fire. This assumption was then published on Facebook together with a picture of the accident site. A few hours later, the entry was deleted - Tesla and the cantonal police were not happy about the publication. «We are very concerned by this accident. We are working to establish the facts of the accident and offer our full cooperation to local authorities. So far, we have not received any data from the accident vehicle, so we still don't know what really happened, although it appears that it was an accident caused by high speed,» a Tesla spokesman told the SDA news agency.
This is an answer that has been released several times in connection with Teslas which have caught fire. The manufacturer itself does not seem to be at all sure how high the hazardous potential of the batteries needs to be classified. What remains are emergency personnel who, like in Ticino, are dependent on Californian instructions by mobile phone if the vehicles have to be extinguished in an emergency.
If police cars indeed burst into flames, the «Tesla X» that has been ordered would be particularly dangerous. And don’t forget the additional technology that will be installed especially for our blue light organisations. Nobody knows how fire-prone these modifications are going to be. In any case, 140,000 Swiss francs would go up in flames in the event of a fire. And we will probably see what gadgets the Basel police cars with gullwing doors will have this year, provided that the first vehicles are delivered on time. Not a matter for Tesla, of course, but the main thing is that the whole affair continues until Fasnacht. The purchase orchestrated by the Dürr department is guaranteed to be one of the main subjects during carnival next year.
Maiengasse and Hebelstrasse: Great interest in new rental model
At Maiengasse and Hebelstrasse in Basel, a new type of renting model is offered. Thanks to this model, a rent bonus is offered for new apartments with a minimum occupancy rate. There is a lot of interest in this and for this reason, the selection procedure is carried out with great care.
The announcement was followed by 420 applications for the 55 apartments on Maiengasse and Hebelstrasse at Immobilien Basel-Stadt. All applications that have been received up to this point in time were included in the evaluation. In the allocation of the dwellings with a rent bonus, an occupancy regulation and an income upper limit were decisive factors. Specific criteria were defined for these and all other apartments in order to guarantee a diversified group of residents: Couples with and without children, single-parent families, singles, seniors, different ages and nationalities, etc.
Immobilien Basel-Stadt offers interested tenants the opportunity to participate in the extended selection process. During the next days, interested tenants who have been shortlisted will be asked to send in further documents. The contracts will be sent to prospective tenants to sign by the end of May so that they can comply with their notice period.
The new rental model offers a rent bonus with a minimum occupancy rate (subject to an upper income limit). The minimum number of residents must correspond to the number of rooms minus one. For example, a household with at least three persons can apply for a 4.5-room apartment and receives a rent bonus in the rental agreement. The rent bonus is valid for one year and can be extended if the occupancy requirements are met.
Immobilien Basel-Stadt is pleased about the great interest in the new apartments. At the same time, the selection process is a challenge that the company takes great care for because they are aware that sometimes a rejection has to be sent to the most prospective tenants in the end.