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

teslamotors.com

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

#251

Post by eru »

gargoiler00 wrote: post #213
eru wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you hope for that?

Firstly, I don't believe electric cars are a good idea. Secondly, I absolutely hate the idea of cars so dependent on electronics and software. My neighbour has an old dumper truck he lets me use, probably 50 or 60 years old. It starts every time, first time. There is literally nothing to go wrong on it. Now contrast that with a modern car, where you need special tools to access the electronics unlock diagnostics. Wha…

Thanks for answering. I respectfully disagree, but we can still have a civilized conversation.

> My neighbour has an old dumper truck he lets me use, probably 50 or 60 years old. It starts every time, first time. There is literally nothing to go wrong on it.

I guess apart from modern safety features and gas guzzling?

> What about when the government forces car makers to embed their own tracking software into them to monitor and spy on civilians.

Not necessary. People already carry cell phones.

I am actually looking forward to the self driving cars. Human error causes lots of accidents. But then, I don't own a car and probably never will.

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

#252

Post by lnanek2 »

Seems a little disingenuous to bring up better rating than SUVs. SUVs of the same rating as cars still have a 4.5 times better survivability rate. The rating is for comparing similar cars hitting each other. A comparatively light and low to the ground car is not going to fare well vs. a heavy, higher off the ground SUV. That's just simple physics.

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

#253

Post by JshWright »

moocowduckquack wrote: post #250
JshWright wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of tools are you envisioning?

maybe insulated ones

Insulating the tools isn't really the issue. There's already a fair amount of insulation between me (the tool operator) and the business end of the tool.

The problem is, we're cutting through and crushing various bits of the car that weren't really designed to be indiscriminately cut into (which is why training is so important).

Both rescuers and victims have been seriously injured and killed when extrication activities turned potential energy stored in the car into kinetic energy. Air bag deployment systems, seat belt pretensioners, even the little hydraulic tubes that hold your trunk open and be extremely dangerous if their energy is released in an uncontrolled way.

So you can understand why we're a little leery of 85 kWh of potential energy sitting under the car...

Here's an example of airbags being deployed when the SRS controller was crushed with a hydraulic spreading tool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDSksTztHJk

Two firefighters were injured in that incident (one of them seriously).

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

#254

Post by Zimahl »

agumonkey wrote: post #128
abalone wrote: post #110

This is all very good PR.... BUT. The critical safety concern with the Tesla is....... You guessed it. The high voltage system. It can kill you or a first responder with a touch. It's not just about batteries catching fire, although that's gotten a lot of press lately. A chief concern during a Tesla accident is the exposure of high voltage components. It's a big concern for first responders. Read it from the horse's…

About that, do cars attempt to shut down engines, fuel intake and electric pathways when detecting a collision ? I remember Liquid Gas vehicles having an emergency outlet to avoid fire/explosions. In Tesla's case that would be cutting the battery off the circuit and maybe putting it into a 'fast drain' mode ..

About that, do cars attempt to shut down engines, fuel intake and electric pathways when detecting a collision ?

Some do, and a lot of people don't know about that. It can trip in small accidents too so sometimes people can figure out why their car won't start when it seems perfectly fine. Check your manual to see if you have it and how to reset it, it's good to know.

That said, my grandfather was in an accident where he slid off an icy roadway and flipped his Toyota truck. It didn't trip the cutoff (may not have had one) and the engine continued to run upside down. He had to reach in (after he had crawled out) and turn off the ignition. It surprised him because he had never owned a car that was fuel injected.

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

#255

Post by ericHosick »

axylone wrote: post #84
RomP wrote: post #22

This is simply unkind to the competition (and to the poles alike): "Tesla achieved this outcome by nesting multiple deep aluminum extrusions in the side rail of the car that absorb the impact energy (a similar approach was used by the Apollo Lunar Lander) and transfer load to the rest of the vehicle. This causes the pole to be either sheared off or to stop the car before the pole hits an occupant." There's winning an…

Here's the video of the Tesla pole test: http://youtu.be/_Al3IUHt9Wc?t=32s Honda Accord for comparison: http://youtu.be/ycntFFUfGkU?t=30s

It also looks like, in an accident, the lights on the Tesla start to flash.

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

#256

Post by gargoiler00 »

lutusp wrote: post #247
gargoiler00 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lithium-ion batteries (the latter were under active development), but they're now the primary power sources for portable devices, and lithium-ion batteries power the Tesla Model S. What does that mean for the user. Do batteries today last twice what they lasted 30 years ago? Nope. Are rechargeable batteries any more viable today? Nope. Even batteries in laptops only last a year or so before they are just dead and n…

> What does that mean for the user. Do batteries today last twice what they lasted 30 years ago? Nope. Are rechargeable batteries any more viable today? Nope. You are flat wrong on both counts. Modern batteries provide much more energy per size, weight and cost than their rechargeable predecessors. As to "viable", how can you make any kind of claim about batteries that didn't exist 30 years ago? > Even batteries in l…

My first laptop was an Amstrad PPC512 in the mid 80s - almost 30 years ago. I'm still not convinced batteries have come that far since then.

I'm actually thinking of going back to my nokia which has a battery that lasts a week on standby. Compared to modern smartphones which last a day.

You're right though - Inefficient bloated buggy software is becoming the driving force for requiring more power from batteries - going back to my original point - I don't want software running my car.

Agree to disagree eh

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

#257

Post by Too »

jacquesm wrote: post #145
Someone wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The goal of a crash test is not to keep the car intact, it is to keep the driver intact. On "keep the car intact", today's cars do way more badly than those of the 1950's.

> On "keep the car intact", today's cars do way more badly than those of the 1950's. I don't think that is true. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

Another interesting crash test is the Smart car. Youtube some videos of it. Due to its small size it hardly has any deformation zones and has to be built as a hard cage. It looks quite intact after a crash but i don't think the passengers inside would be.

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

#258

Post by pilom »

ericHosick wrote: post #255
axylone wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the video of the Tesla pole test: http://youtu.be/_Al3IUHt9Wc?t=32s Honda Accord for comparison: http://youtu.be/ycntFFUfGkU?t=30s

It also looks like, in an accident, the lights on the Tesla start to flash.

The lights wouldn't appear to be flashing, they are blinking at a faster rate than the human eye can see and thus just to a person appear dimmer than they would if they were on full power.

Most dimming of LED's is done with this super fast blinking technique because LED's can be either on or off unlike incandesant bulbs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation

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

#259

Post by bdt101 »

simonb wrote: post #165
ghayes wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite was "While this is statistically unlikely to remain the case long term, Tesla is unaware of any Model S or Roadster occupant fatalities in any car ever."

There aren't that many on the road to begin with. To put this into perspective: during 1990-1994 there were 5 fatalities in Volvo 240s with 186000 cars on the road [ http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr3009.pdf ] Also the roof holding 4 additional cars, that's cute http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/v...

The test machine broke at 4, not the car.

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

#260

Post by moocowduckquack »

sergiosgc wrote: post #189
abalone wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi there. Go ahead and watch this video from Tesla about how to cut someone out of a Tesla. The very first step is to cut the circuit like you say, but there are a few things you overlooked. Much of the video is concerned with instructing responders how to cut around components that may remain electrified such as the converter and capacitors which, in Tesla's own words, present a "serious hazard of shock" because "th…

Nitpicking, I know, but releasing 400 volts means nothing. Current kills, tension does not. It all hinges on the internal resistance of the power source.

That and time. You could get hit with high volts and current, but still be fine if the exposure is short. I have had a few 240v mains shocks on high current fuses, but they were all pretty quick and I had nothing but very slight burns and sore muscles for about ten minutes.

However, there is definitely a risk here, albeit what appears to be a manageable one. Perhaps there could be some use in building volt meters that glow into gloves for emergency responders to help mitigate some of the risk.

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