A driver plunged their car into the water in Lynn. They walked away, forgetting that the Toyota wasn't in Park. The crossover rolled down into the water as the passenger uselessly tried to stop it and eventually went down with it.
The driver and passenger were trying to have a quiet lunch with a view. Minutes into their lunch, the driver got out of the car and walked to a trash can but forgot to put the transmission in Park. Predictably, the car started to roll down toward the water with the passenger inside.
A call shortly after 01:30 PM alerted the emergency crew, who rushed to the scene to pull a Toyota from the water at the Blossom Street Pier Ferry Terminal in Lynn, Massachusetts. They found the vehicle completely submerged.
In a conversation with NBC10 Boston, the passenger, Gerry Cardona, said that he tried to stop the car from rolling down the ramp usually used by boats. But all he managed to do was roll down the window and crawl out of the car to save his life, which was surely the best thing to do. He swam his way back to the shore and was safe by the time the emergency crew arrived at the scene.
Lynn District Fire Chief Joseph Zukas told the local media that Cardona was assessed by the paramedics but refused treatment and did not need hospitalization.
Photo: NBC10 Boston | X
Nobody was harmed in the incident, but we can't say the same thing about the car that spent minutes under the water. So all that the fire and rescue department and the G/J Towing and Recovery company could do was bring the car with its wheels back on the ground. But that vehicle is not driving anywhere any time soon or ever for that matter.
Saltwater is the end of battery packs. The contact with saltwater could also cause a thermal reaction, so the vehicle needs to be under supervision for the next couple of days. The insurance company is most likely going to write it off.
The Toyota is not a Prius, as originally mentioned by those at the scene, but a bZ4X crossover, Toyota's first electric car. The model made its debut in April 2021, entered production one year later, and has not been the most popular of Toyotas out there during its time on the market. The Japanese carmaker was late at the global EV party and delivered a model when almost all carmakers out there already had one or a few in their lineups.
The bZ4X comes with either a single motor generating 201 horsepower (204 metric horsepower) in a front-wheel drive layout or a dual-motor setup and 215 horsepower (218 metric horsepower).
The front-wheel drive version is equipped with a 71.4-kWh battery sourced from Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, which enables the car to drive as far as 317 miles (510 kilometers) before it needs to be plugged in again. Meanwhile, Toyota equipped the all-wheel drive version with the CATL-sourced 72.8-kWh battery pack for a range of 286 miles (460 kilometers).
There is no information on the version of the car plunging into the ocean at the Ferry Terminal in Lynn. But none of them is able to handle a swim.
CLOSE CALL: A car crashed into the ocean in Lynn this afternoon, but thankfully everyone was able to escape. https://t.co/TSuJRIJXmF
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