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

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271–280 of 408 posts

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

#274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ridiculous how much emphasis the media placed on the fire while ignoring the extreme speed and consequently minor injuries involved in the crash.

Look what they did to Toyota over the Sudden Unrequested Acceleration that never was. $1.6bn fine! EDIT: By they I mean the Media. I guess I should add some substance. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/nesc-toyota-stu... NASA's Toyota Study Released by Dept. of Transportation 02.08.11 WASHINGTON -- The results of a ten-month study by 30 NASA engineers of possible electronic causes of unintended acceleratio…

I don't know what to believe about this. Wasn't it just all over the news that an embedded software engineer found all sorts of code quality problems with Toyota and could even demonstrate unintended acceleration via various bugs?

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

#275

Almost got the wording perfect! (under shield vs underbody shield) 1 point by utefan001 175 days ago | link I am sure it is easier said than done, but it seems like the batteries simply need to be better protected. Something like a carbon fiber or titanium under shield.

Wouldn't carbon fiber shatter in an impact though? It's light, but it doesn't seem like a good material for a skid plate.

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

#276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Tesla is probably exasperated that a couple Model S cars catching fire is international news while cars from other manufacturers catch fire every day and it's barely even worthy of the local news.

"The very definition of news is something that hardly ever happens. If an incident is in the news, we shouldn't worry about it. It's when something is so common that its no longer news – car crashes, domestic violence – that we should worry." -Bruce Schneier

If only this was how the human brain actually worked...

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

#277
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly why. They're gently poking fun that Tesla vehicles are extremely safe, especially compared to fires - and then sticking it to critics further by actually announcing improvements to further reduce the already very low numbers of fire and further increase the already highest rating ever for a safety check for a vehicle. Well done Tesla and Elon.

And yet, I can't help but feel they're being very, very defensive over it. I can't blame them, of course, given how something trivial like a car fire (trivial given the average frequency of them) is turned into a national news event. At the same time, Tesla's attention to quality and perfection and what-have-you will end up in them being heavily scrutinised. It's not that different from Apple in that respect; random…

Defensive but addressing a rare issue with a proper solution, free of charge (possession and installation) retroactively. What's not to love.

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

#278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, because a Tesla would leave you unscratched if you collided with the same immovable wall?

Reminded me of a joke I heard a while ago: "Just released car has amazing safety features that prevent any damage to the vehicle. Amazing advance of technology was made available by near instantaneous braking. Even going 100 mph a car can come to a complete stop instantaneously. After that wipers are deployed automatically to wipe off remains of a driver from windshield." Any significant change of momentum will harm…

Reminds me of the saying: "people like to say that speed kills, but really it's a very sudden lack of speed that kills."

I think that might be a Clarksonism...

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

#280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The standard that the media holds Tesla to will still be a picnic compared to how the media will treat the first self-driving cars. Far safer than human-driven will not be nearly enough; the first high-profile accident will be wall-to-wall "Are Self-Driving Cars Really Ready For Prime Time?"

I would bet the first self-driving car accident involves a human driven car as well. Even if it is human error, the media will say the self driving car should have avoided them or something like that.

It already has.

http://mashable.com/2010/10/09/google-cars/

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