A lawsuit is now claiming that Elon Musk "defectively designed" the well-known Tesla Cybertruck. 

According to The Independent, which obtained an exclusive report on the lawsuit, the claim comes from a man who died after his Tesla Cybertruck crashed.

Breitbart News describes the accident as having "sent shockwaves through the EV [electric vehicle] industry."

There is a chance that this situation could have a big impact on the industry.

The details of the lawsuit

The man who died in the crash is Michael Sheehan, a 47-year-old from Texas. The lawsuit is now being brought by his widow and his parents.

The Independent reports:

A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Texas was unable to escape after rolling it into a ditch last year, experiencing an unthinkable demise as the batteries powering the $100,000 stainless steel SUV burst into flames with such intensity the helpless driver's skeletal system literally disintegrated, his family says.

It is claimed that the temperature rose to 5,000 degrees fareignheit, a temperature hot enough to cause "thermal fracture."

This is just another way of saying that Sheehan's bones disintegrated.

The lawsuit states that, when his body was recovered, it was eight inches shorter than before the accident.

A defective design?

As mentioned earlier, those bringing the lawsuit are claiming that the Cybertruck was defectively designed.

Breitbart explains:

The lawsuit, filed on June 13 in Harris County District Court, alleges that the Cybertruck’s “defective design” trapped Sheehan inside the burning vehicle, leading to his untimely and agonizing demise. Attorney S. Scott West, representing Sheehan’s family, stated that the single-vehicle crash would have normally been survivable, but the Cybertruck’s allegedly flawed design turned it into a death trap.

The outlet goes on to report that the lawsuit, among other things, claims that Musk and Tesla "prioritized aesthetics over functionality, using 'hyper volatile' battery systems that are prone to thermal runaway – a chain reaction of short-circuits resulting in uncontrollable temperature escalation."

In addition, "the lawsuit claims that once power was lost in the crash, the Cybertruck’s electrically operated doors became impossible to open, and the emergency manual door release handles were unreasonably difficult to locate."

Sheehan was the first person to die in a Cybertruck accident, but he was not the last. Breitbart notes:

In the months following his accident, three college students in California perished in a similar manner when their Cybertruck veered off the road and caught fire. Another incident involved USC basketball recruit Alijah Arenas, who was placed in an induced coma due to smoke inhalation after his Cybertruck crashed and burst into flames.