Tesla Model S achieves best safety rating of any car ever tested

Post by mikeash » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 1:53 AM UTC

guynamedloren wrote: post #37

sbierwagen wrote: post #31

It helps that it weighs 4,600 pounds. (More than a thousand pounds heavier than the Volvo S60 they compare it to.) Heavier vehicles always do better-- which is why SUVs survive crashes so well.

I don't know much about the mechanics or engineering of the Model S, but I'm going to take a gander and say that much of that extra weight comes from the battery pack (and other parts of the non-traditional drivetrain), which isn't a (huge?) factor in a crash test (though I could be wrong). Just checked - yep - the battery weighs an estimated ~ 545kg or 1200 lbs [1]. I'd expect the structural components to actually b…

Post by corresation » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 1:55 AM UTC

sbierwagen wrote: post #31

It helps that it weighs 4,600 pounds. (More than a thousand pounds heavier than the Volvo S60 they compare it to.) Heavier vehicles always do better-- which is why SUVs survive crashes so well.

Post by mikeash » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 1:58 AM UTC

ISL wrote: post #36

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's winning and there's crushing the opponents. Crushing the opponents while your car remains uncrushed in the test (or the least crushed). That's what you get when you ask the rocket scientist to make you a car.

If you ask a rocket scientist to make you a car that passes the crash test ratings alone, they'll build you a tungsten dump truck. If you're going to win, you might as well reach the destination without noticing that you've had a collision.

Post by nonchalance » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 2:03 AM UTC

adwf wrote: post #24

marvin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, does anyone want to give odds that Tesla will be a disruptive force in the automotive industry throughout the next decade?

Yeah, I remember beign told at the end of the 90's that if you'd bought 100 shares (~$2000) of Microsoft stock at IPO and sold in '99, you'd have cashed in well over a million dollars. Tesla gives me that kind of feeling at the moment. It probably won't be to the same extent as Tesla's market cap is already quite high. So I can't see them splitting quite as much as MS. But on the other hand, I think they're definitel…

Post by mikeash » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 2:08 AM UTC

a-priori wrote: post #26

jlgreco wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what sort of a drop 4g's translates too. It seems to me that the height you can drop it before the roof caves in is the more important figure, but I guess it is probably more difficult to accurately run the test that way.

Let's see if I remember my high school physics. Making all sorts of assumptions and simplifications here: F = mv / dt (equation of impulse for zero final velocity) F = mg (newton's laws) mg = mv/dt g = v/dt 9.8 = v/0.5 v = 4.9 Therefore, the car can be travelling no more than 4.9m/s at impact to survive. mgh = 0.5mv^2 (initial gravitational potential energy = kinetic energy at impact) gh = 0.5v^2 h = (0.5v^2) / g h =…

    d = 1/2 at^2
    d = 1/2 9.8m/s^2 (0.5s)^2
    d = 4.9m

    d = 1/2 at^2
    0.1m = 1/2 4 * 9.8m/s^2 t^2
    t = 0.0714s