--- title: "Cybertruck Burned So Severely That Its Driver’s Bones Disintegrated" description: "A Cybertruck owner in Texas was burned to death after crashing. The fire burned so hot that his bones literally disintegrated." date: "2025-06-18" modified: "2025-06-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/cybertruck-burned-driver-bones-disintegrated" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "cybertruck" - "elon musk" - "evs" - "tesla" --- # Cybertruck Burned So Severely That Its Driver’s Bones Disintegrated ![A Cybertruck owner in Texas was burned to death after crashing. The fire burned so hot that his bones literally disintegrated.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* A Cybertruck owner in Texas was burned to death after crashing his vehicle in a ditch and becoming trapped inside. According to a lawsuit filed by his widow and parents against the Elon Musk-led EV maker, the fire burned so hot that his bones literally disintegrated. The 47-year-old, named Michael Sheehan, "burned to death at 5,000°F — a fire so hot his bones experienced thermal fracture," the lawsuit reads, as [quoted by *The Independent*](). "He was eight inches shorter in length than he was before he burned," their attorney, Scott West, told the newspaper. "That's thermal fracture." The incident is only the latest in a string of incidents in which drivers become trapped inside their Tesla after a crash. Experts have warned that in many models, the [manual door unlock can be difficult to find](). There have also been plenty of incidents of the [electronic doors not opening](). And in case the vehicle does go up in a blaze, the lithium-ion batteries will fuel a fierce fire for a very long time, making it [extremely difficult to put out]() for the fire department. That's especially alarming for the Cybertruck, which has been recalled a whopping eight times for major design flaws, [from accelerators that can get stuck]() to giant body panels [that can become unglued](). A different crash in November involved a young man who [desperately tried but failed]() to save his three friends trapped inside a raging Cybertruck fire in Piedmont, California. According to the latest lawsuit, Sheehan would've survived if it had been virtually any other vehicle. However, the Cybertruck was "defectively designed," trapping him inside and incinerating him. It must've been an absolutely brutal way to go. "Every religion has a version of hell, and every version of hell has fire," West told the *Independent*. "It is the most excruciating and longest torture of any death. Whether it's steam or fire or electrical, the nerves are literally exposed to everything. It's horrific." The deceased's family claims his Cybertruck "left the road," struck a concrete culvert, and triggered a chain reaction in the battery system that ignited it. Without power, Sheehan was unable to operate the truck's electronic doors. Even the external door handles failed, the suit alleges. "Not only are you riding on top of 3,000 pounds of batteries, this ‘spaceship’ design is a double-edged sword," West told the *Independent*. However, Sheehan did have "some alcohol in his system," the attorney admitted, which still "shouldn't sign his death warrant." Besides drivers being incinerated at thousands of degrees, Tesla has also been caught up in many other lawsuits over its infamous driver assistance features, which has proven to [lull drivers into a false sense of security](). West told the *Independent* that he hopes there won't be any more incinerations in the future. "I’d love for them to put me out of business on Tesla Cybertrucks," he said. "There’s my challenge to Elon. Put me out of business. Make these vehicles so safe that I don’t have to do this anymore." **More on the Cybetruck:** *[Tesla Stock Plummets as Company Abruptly Halts Production of Cybertruck and Model Y]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()