Posted on 08/20/2013 9:10:28 PM PDT by grundle
As much as electric car builders hail their vehicles as the future of transportation, one question they couldn't answer fully was just how well their vehicles would withstand a crash. Automakers have spent decades finessing their chassis; what happened when an engine-less vehicle went head-on into a barrier wasn't clear, and as the post crash-test smoldering of a Chevy Volt demonstrated, the batteries posed new challenges.
Leave it to Tesla to provide the first hard evidence — with data from U.S. government tests showing the Model S sedan may be the most crash-proof passenger vehicle on the road today.
Normally, Tesla's garnering of five stars on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's crash tests wouldn't be a headline; most new cars and trucks get at least five stars in frontal crash protection and four stars in side impact. But the Model S did better than that; it got five stars in all tests; front, side impact, pole and rollover prevention. Plus, the scores of its frontal, side and rollover test combined were higher than any car ever crashed by NHTSA — and according to Tesla, at one point the testers nearly broke their equipment trying to damage the Model S.
For its front crash tests, NHTSA runs vehicles into a wall at 35 mph. Most cars use a combination of crumple zones — often pieces of their steel frames that look like accordion bellows — air bags and engine mounts that send the motor underneath the car to protect passengers. Since the Model S has no engine up front, it has more space for crumple zones in its aluminum chassis.
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.yahoo.com ...
The US release is scheduled for the 2015 model year. They’ve had the type R in Europe for years.
and in case it all burns the house down? and what if your charging finally overloads the neighborhood’s almost-guaranteed undersized transformer?
Very well said and absolutely spot on.
Type R went out of production in 2010. Re-introducing it to the European market in 2015 according to several websites I just checked. Hope I’m wrong....
http://www.carsreviews2014.com/2015-honda-civic-type-r/
Who did the tests? If the government or Tesla, I’d say they might be suspect.
Still a good looking car for a coal burning car.
Thank you. That is a litle more impressive than a Volt.
Of course you can leave your keys in a Volt and not worry about someone stealing it.
And if they do, they won’t get very far.
Thats the thing greenies never talk about. They think that electricity just magically appears from the receptacle and never consider how it is produced.
Over 50% Of Electric Cars Sold In US Are In 5 Cities
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/08/19/top-electric-car-cities-us/#IimFG8E1jBCifPju.99
That really says it all and thanks for pointing it out. Those five anti-American places are dens of liberalism and sodomy. No thanks — no Tesla.
My suggestion to freerepublic readers. Don’t treat Tesla like other junk electric/hybrid car companies out there. Read up on Tesla. They’re going in the right direction
My objection is not to their build quality. It’s obviously high if those ratings are real. It’s that fact that a $62,000 plus car that only goes 200 miles and then must be charged FOR HOURS is not practical for much of the driving we do in this country. When a Tesla can approach the range that a Ford Pinto or Chevrolet Vega can achieve and get the price down to what other brands charge, then I’ll reconsider.
I agree that price is high, but if you read further. Tesla have 3 stages of car release. 1. high price, low volume, 2. medium price, medium volumn 3. low price high volume.
Wait 3-4 years and they will have a car thats approx $30k. They need the rich and early adopters to fund future development
I agree that the government loan was really bad, but at least they repaid the loan in full very quickly (9 years earlier than they need to) after the criticism they got
http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger
Check these out. Currently about 20-25 mins per charge or 1.5 mins for battery swap. Pretty impressive
And some demos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TszRyT8hjJE
The reason some here don’t Tesla, is it’s a California-based company.
BTW, the acceleration on some models basically blows away most of the gas powered stuff off the road.
It’s a solution without a problem. If we have to burn coal or natural gas to power generators that make electricity (and coal is being quickly made illegal) how does that change where we were with gasoline and diesel powered vehicles? They are a proven technology with over a century of constant use. If someone were able to invent a solar or hydrogen powered vehicle with decent range, that’d be a game changer.
So, it only has enough juice to get me to my in-laws', assuring I'll need to stay overnight to charge it, then further has the nerve to keep me alive if I try to cut my trip short into the nearest brick wall?
No thanks.
What’s it going to be like when desperate Tesla owners line up at those “superchargers” on a holiday weekend and find out that it’s going to cost them hours to get moving again?
What happens at night or on a cloudy day?
Free forever? I don’t believe it.
Hard to sort out the European articles on this vs the US ones. Friend of mine is associated with building some of the turbo parts for the Civic and they’re for the US model.
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