Chinese electric car flies out of third floor skyscaper killing two

Chinese experimental electric car flies out of third floor of skyscraper and crashes to the ground killing two ‘test drivers’

• Nio said its ET5 model flew from a third floor testing facility in Shanghai
• The crash killed a member of staff and a person from a partner company 
• One employee said it was caused by the driver putting the car in the wrong gear 

A Chinese electric car has flown out of the third floor of its skyscraper headquarters in Shanghai, killing two test drivers.

Carmaker Nio said a member of staff and a person from a partner company died after the ET5 model fell from the testing facility.

The shocking incident took place on Wednesday at 5.20pm and the Tesla rival has launched an immediate investigation along with government officials.

A Chinese electric car has flown out of the third floor of its skyscraper headquarters in Shanghai, killing two test drivers

Carmaker Nio said a member of staff and a person from a partner company died after the ET5 model fell from the testing facility

Authorities attended the scene but were unable to save the two people inside the car.

One employee told Xin Huanghe: ‘It’s not a braking problem, (the driver) had hoped to put it in reverse gear, but instead put it in forward gear.’ 

Nio said: ‘Our company has collaborated with public security department to launch the investigation and analysis of the cause of the accident. Based on the analysis of the situation at the scene, we can initially confirm that this was an accident not caused by the vehicle.

‘We feel very sad about this accident and would like to express our deepest condolences to our colleague and partner employee who lost their lives. A team has been set up to help the families.’ 

The shocking incident took place on Wednesday at 5.20pm and the Tesla rival has launched an immediate investigation along with government officials

Many on Chinese social media site Weibo have slammed the company for claiming the crash was not caused by the vehicle.

One said it ‘shows the cold blood of capitalism’.

Another wrote: ‘The last sentence is so indifferent. They [test drivers] came to test the vehicle, but you say [the accident] has nothing to do with the vehicle?’

The company later published an amended statement in which they still referred to it as an accident but added parentheses around the controversial words.

Nio is a Chinese leader in interchangeable batteries in its cars and is part of a major government push to dominate the electric car industry.

The company has been referred to as China’s ‘Tesla killer’ because of its threat to Elon Musk’s electric car brand which has a huge factory in Shanghai.

The ET5 was unveiled in December and serves as the rival to the Tesla Model 3.

It comes with a 75 kWh standard range battery which lasts 342 miles, a 100 kWh long range battery that covers 435 miles, or a huge 150 khW Ultralong battery that lasts 621 miles.

The £40,000 car boasts 483 horsepower and can hit 62mph in 4.3 seconds.

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