Tesla installs titanium shield and aluminum bumpers on the bottom of the Model S
In 2013, as a result of very unusual accidents, two cars of the Model S brand suffered damage to the bottom, which caused the batteries to ignite. Unfortunately, this pair of incidents sparked more media interest than the 200,000 fires of gasoline vehicles that occurred last year in North America alone. In both cases, the drivers were able to get out of the car unharmed thanks to regular security systems. The on-board computer warned them of the need to leave the car even before the fire became noticeable. But even if they stayed inside, and the firefighters would not have arrived on time, they would be safe thanks to the steel and ceramic fire partition that separates the battery compartment from the cabin.
It is important to note that so far no one has received any burns (and no serious injuries at all) in any Tesla car. The chances of a Model S fire are 1 in 8,000, which is five times less than in an average gasoline vehicle, and the scale of a possible fire is relatively small. However, in order to further reduce the likelihood of a fire, several months ago we remotely updated the firmware of all Tesla Model S cars, increasing ground clearance at high speeds, which significantly reduces the risk of severe damage to the bottom.
However, we understood that it is very important to bring the risk to almost zero and provide all Model S owners with absolute peace of mind. Starting from March 6, all cars coming down from the conveyor are equipped with triple bottom protection. Owners of already purchased cars can supply protection at Tesla service centers for free.
We conducted 152 tests during which the defense successfully prevented any damage that could cause a fire or penetrate a full-bodied 8-mm bullet-proof aluminum alloy plate, which now protects the battery compartment of all Tesla Model S cars. We tried the worst scenarios of a collision with lying on the road debris that could only be invented, including hardened steel structures specially arranged to pierce the bottom - in fact, this is equivalent to hitting a fixed one at a high-speed sho Behold steel spearhead.
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We are confident that these changes will also help prevent a fire in a collision at extremely high speeds, when the car can tear off the wheels, as happened during another fire last year in Mexico. It happened after the car at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour drove into a roundabout, turning 5 meters of a concrete bump stop and losing the left front wheel, and then broke a two-meter concrete fence on the other side of the road, losing the right wheel, and after that hit a tree. The driver was able to get out of the car and independently leave the scene of the accident without serious injuries, and the fire, as in other cases, limited to the front of the car, began after a few minutes. Even with such an accident, new protection will help avoid a fire.
The first level of protection is a hollow aluminum bar of a special shape, which discards an object lying on the road, or if it is a very solid and stable object, such as a three-ball hitch, softens the blow and sends it up in front of the battery compartment in the front trunk area, preventing serious damage , and maintaining the controllability of the car both during and after the collision.
Then comes a plate made of titanium, which has an extremely high ratio of strength to weight, and is usually used in military and aerospace engineering. The titanium plate protects vulnerable components in front of the machine from damage, helping to neutralize the debris on the road.
At this stage, the vast majority of obstacles will be discarded or destroyed. For those rare cases when the first two levels of protection are not enough, we added a shield made of extruded aluminum at a slight angle, which additionally absorbs and dissipates the impact energy, and if the obstacle is too hard and stationary, it serves as a springboard that lifts the car above it.
During the tests, we fixed speed cameras under the bottom of the car to see what happens when we hit different types of debris that might occur on the road. In the frames below you can see how the new protection either destroys any obstacles, including a generator with a steel casing and a concrete block, or throws aside what is impossible to destroy:
Hitch with three balls
Concrete block
Generator
New protection significantly strengthens the bottom, and its effect on the remaining characteristics of the machine is minimal. In general, the mileage of the car is reduced by only 0.1%, and the handling and smoothness of the course do not change. The blowing in the wind tunnel also did not reveal any noticeable changes in aerodynamics.
Experience shows that there is no particular need for additional protection from the bottom of safety. However, it is important to reduce the inconvenience of the owner in a collision and to overcome people’s doubts about the safety of electric vehicles. Six years since the release of the first Tesla cars, for which not a single death case and not a single serious injury have occurred, say that now there is no safer car than Tesla. Additional bottom protection only enhances confidence in this.
It is important to note that so far no one has received any burns (and no serious injuries at all) in any Tesla car. The chances of a Model S fire are 1 in 8,000, which is five times less than in an average gasoline vehicle, and the scale of a possible fire is relatively small. However, in order to further reduce the likelihood of a fire, several months ago we remotely updated the firmware of all Tesla Model S cars, increasing ground clearance at high speeds, which significantly reduces the risk of severe damage to the bottom.
However, we understood that it is very important to bring the risk to almost zero and provide all Model S owners with absolute peace of mind. Starting from March 6, all cars coming down from the conveyor are equipped with triple bottom protection. Owners of already purchased cars can supply protection at Tesla service centers for free.
We conducted 152 tests during which the defense successfully prevented any damage that could cause a fire or penetrate a full-bodied 8-mm bullet-proof aluminum alloy plate, which now protects the battery compartment of all Tesla Model S cars. We tried the worst scenarios of a collision with lying on the road debris that could only be invented, including hardened steel structures specially arranged to pierce the bottom - in fact, this is equivalent to hitting a fixed one at a high-speed sho Behold steel spearhead.
')
We are confident that these changes will also help prevent a fire in a collision at extremely high speeds, when the car can tear off the wheels, as happened during another fire last year in Mexico. It happened after the car at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour drove into a roundabout, turning 5 meters of a concrete bump stop and losing the left front wheel, and then broke a two-meter concrete fence on the other side of the road, losing the right wheel, and after that hit a tree. The driver was able to get out of the car and independently leave the scene of the accident without serious injuries, and the fire, as in other cases, limited to the front of the car, began after a few minutes. Even with such an accident, new protection will help avoid a fire.
The first level of protection is a hollow aluminum bar of a special shape, which discards an object lying on the road, or if it is a very solid and stable object, such as a three-ball hitch, softens the blow and sends it up in front of the battery compartment in the front trunk area, preventing serious damage , and maintaining the controllability of the car both during and after the collision.
Then comes a plate made of titanium, which has an extremely high ratio of strength to weight, and is usually used in military and aerospace engineering. The titanium plate protects vulnerable components in front of the machine from damage, helping to neutralize the debris on the road.
At this stage, the vast majority of obstacles will be discarded or destroyed. For those rare cases when the first two levels of protection are not enough, we added a shield made of extruded aluminum at a slight angle, which additionally absorbs and dissipates the impact energy, and if the obstacle is too hard and stationary, it serves as a springboard that lifts the car above it.
During the tests, we fixed speed cameras under the bottom of the car to see what happens when we hit different types of debris that might occur on the road. In the frames below you can see how the new protection either destroys any obstacles, including a generator with a steel casing and a concrete block, or throws aside what is impossible to destroy:
Hitch with three balls
Concrete block
Generator
New protection significantly strengthens the bottom, and its effect on the remaining characteristics of the machine is minimal. In general, the mileage of the car is reduced by only 0.1%, and the handling and smoothness of the course do not change. The blowing in the wind tunnel also did not reveal any noticeable changes in aerodynamics.
Experience shows that there is no particular need for additional protection from the bottom of safety. However, it is important to reduce the inconvenience of the owner in a collision and to overcome people’s doubts about the safety of electric vehicles. Six years since the release of the first Tesla cars, for which not a single death case and not a single serious injury have occurred, say that now there is no safer car than Tesla. Additional bottom protection only enhances confidence in this.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/217497/
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