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Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

teslamotors.com

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Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#41

Post by damon_c »

kzahel wrote: post #17

"With a track record of zero deaths or serious, permanent injuries since our vehicles went into production six years ago, there is no safer car on the road than a Tesla." I recall one Tesla caused death[1], and I'm sure there have been more. Not that I really think Tesla is any more dangerous than any other car in this regard though. [1] http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2014/02/07/tesla-driver-blames...

Just checking... did you read that article? It says the car's "new car smell" caused the driver to suddenly fall asleep and kill a cyclist.

Not sure if the car was actually at fault there...

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#42

Post by PakG1 »

cma wrote: post #38
seunosewa wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's ridiculous about it?

That it sounds like it was written in Slashdot passive aggressive style: rather than just directly saying it was an extreme scenario, they used list of somewhat-hyperbolic-but-way-more-so-if-you-know-the-jargon descriptors of each element of the crash.

Part of me thinks that they are deliberately passive aggressive, like, "I can't believe people don't believe yet that our vehicles are safe, fine, let's just go all out and shove it in their face."

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#43

Post by jusben1369 »

"An ode to passive/aggressive and hyper defensive writing"

Did this remind anyone else of when the smartest kid in the room was forced to apologize for something and you got the classic non apology apology?

Keep building great cars Elon and changing the world. Understand that we understand that there will be (I almost said bumps in the road) and that no one expected you to be perfect in every way from the very beginning. Trust someone close to you to help write these things.

"When you're doing something as new as we are with Tesla you're going to draw an outsized amount of scrutiny. Even though these fires were both in extreme circumstances, and that fires are sadly a regular occurrence for all vehicle makers, as a brand new concept it's not good enough for us to say 'We're as safe as any other comparable high end vehicle' We have to go a step further. And so today I'm announcing......" I mean I'm just throwing something together quickly but I'm trying to put some substance here vs sounding randomly snarky.

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#44

Post by Gustomaximus »

kzahel wrote: post #17

"With a track record of zero deaths or serious, permanent injuries since our vehicles went into production six years ago, there is no safer car on the road than a Tesla." I recall one Tesla caused death[1], and I'm sure there have been more. Not that I really think Tesla is any more dangerous than any other car in this regard though. [1] http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2014/02/07/tesla-driver-blames...

For those that don't follow the link, this death was a cyclist hit by a Tesla driver. Not a car occupant so I feel the claim is valid as someone hitting a cyclist is largely out of their control until/if they move to driverless models.

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#45

Post by colechristensen »

fidotron wrote: post #29

I'm guessing the actual titanium shield is relatively small, but either way I hope it's welded to the car well, as that stuff is valuable.

Titanium is more expensive than it is valuable. Most of the high cost of titanium products comes from the relatively very expensive purification process and difficulty machining.

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#46

Post by chromaton »

The post doesn't mention the titanium alloy or thickness of the shield, both of which make a significant difference. Pure titanium (Grade 2) isn't especially strong compared to aluminum or steel, but it is less expensive. Heat treated 6Al-4V alloy, AKA Grade 5 on the other hand, is the stuff used in military aircraft and the like.

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#48

Post by Gustomaximus »

martin_bech wrote: post #7

Always impressed in the companys ability to push things further. They will do to some of the current manufactures what Apple did to Blackberry and Nokia.

I kinda feel Nokia self destructed more than it was destroyed by Apple. It was a sad journey to watch right up the the sale. But reminds me I should see what's the latest with Sailfish and Ubuntu Touch.

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#49

Post by Retric »

001sky wrote: post #35

Kudos for an engineering led solution. I have no idea what "ballistics grade aluminum" is (since nobody uses ALU for ballistics armour##), but Ti has more inherent toughness# and seems a better fit as a skid-plate. # elongation and tensile strength. ## The ballistic standard for armour (RHA) is a 1/4 steel plate. Ballistic Alu is roughly 1/2 inch or double the thickness used here, in most applications.

Think tanks not people. Aluminum is far cheaper than what you would put in armor vests but still light and strong. Ceramics are arguably better overall, but combining the two is a net win. Anyway, ballistic grade aluminum actually does refer to something and is probably better for cars which don't have to deal with anti tank rounds.

EX: http://www.cliftonsteel.com/aluminum-armor-plate.html

Re: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S

#50

Post by imrehg »

codfrantic wrote: post #18
zacharycohn wrote: post #5

"We believe these changes will also help prevent a fire resulting from an extremely high speed impact that tears the wheels off the car, like the other Model S impact fire, which occurred last year in Mexico. This happened after the vehicle impacted a roundabout at 110 mph, shearing off 15 feet of concrete curbwall and tearing off the left front wheel, then smashing through an eight foot tall buttressed concrete wall…

>This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. ridiculously awesome?

I read this in Archer's voice. Have to cut down on cartoons...
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