Why the Tesla Model S Couldn – t Ace That Petite Overlap Front Crash Test, WIRED
Why the Tesla Model S Couldn’t Ace Its Latest Crash Test
Why the Tesla Model S Couldn’t Ace Its Latest Crash Test
With a crunch and a cringe, Elon Musk's week just got worse. His Tesla Model S sedan just took home a disappointing”acceptable” score on something called a puny overlap front test, marring the company's reputation for five-star safety.
That bit of bad news came even as Tesla's stock price plummeted twenty percent amid concerns that the company won't hit its production goals for the Model three sedan.
A little perspective is in order, however. The Model S still sailed through four of five crash tests administered by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. But that one “acceptable” score makes the S ineligible for the agency's coveted “Top Safety Pick.” (The IIHS tested a Model S with a 75-kWh battery back, so the results don’t apply to the cars with the 100-kWh pack. Tesla did not reply to a request for comment.)
It’s a bummer for Tesla, which likes to boast about its safety accomplishments. In 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Model S a five-star rating. Last year, the feds concluded Tesla’s self-driving Autopilot system can reduce crashes by forty percent .
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To be fair, slew of cars have bungled the puny overlap front crash test. IIHS created it five years ago to improve safety during crashes in which a car hits something—another vehicle, a tree, whatever—with an influence to one side of the bumper, not the center.
“It’s like a frontal crash that almost doesn’t happen,” says David Zuby, chief research officer at IIHS. He estimates that the test represents about twenty five percent of frontal collisions that gravely injure or kill someone.
What makes this test so difficult is the front crumple zone doesn't extend all the way across the front of the car because the wheels need space to turn. Automakers, Zuby says, must figure out how to divert influence energy into that structure—and away from passengers.
Automakers also must control what happens to the front wheel and suspension in a corner influence. IIHS found that in this test of the Model S, the front left wheel shattered, and the brake rotor and caliper penetrated the passenger compartment. Meantime, the dummy’s head hit the steering wheel (through the airbag). “Maybe Tesla hadn’t thought through everything that needs to occur once you get past the front bumper area,” Zuby says.
While lots of cars have had trouble with this overlap test—the Fiat 500, Nissan Leaf, Dodge Challenger, and Toyota Tundra all scored a “marginal” or “poor” rating—many of the cars in the Model S’s class pulverized it, including the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Genesis G80 and G90, BMW five Series, Lexus RC, and Lincoln Continental.
“It’s not a major black mark against an automaker or a model,” Zuby says. “But we think that for those cars that aren’t earning the ‘Good’ rating, they can do something to improve protection.” Tesla cars have a solid structure to work with, Zuby says. “They just need to think more about these kinds of crashes.”
One more thing for Musk to add to his ever-growing pile of to-do projects.
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Why the Tesla Model S Couldn – t Ace That Puny Overlap Front Crash Test, WIRED
Why the Tesla Model S Couldn’t Ace Its Latest Crash Test
Why the Tesla Model S Couldn’t Ace Its Latest Crash Test
With a crunch and a cringe, Elon Musk's week just got worse. His Tesla Model S sedan just took home a disappointing”acceptable” score on something called a puny overlap front test, marring the company's reputation for five-star safety.
That bit of bad news came even as Tesla's stock price plummeted twenty percent amid concerns that the company won't hit its production goals for the Model three sedan.
A little perspective is in order, tho’. The Model S still sailed through four of five crash tests administered by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. But that one “acceptable” score makes the S ineligible for the agency's coveted “Top Safety Pick.” (The IIHS tested a Model S with a 75-kWh battery back, so the results don’t apply to the cars with the 100-kWh pack. Tesla did not reply to a request for comment.)
It’s a bummer for Tesla, which likes to boast about its safety accomplishments. In 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Model S a five-star rating. Last year, the feds concluded Tesla’s self-driving Autopilot system can reduce crashes by forty percent .
Elon's World
Cadillac’s Self-Driving System May Be the Smartest Yet
Volvo’s Electrified Car Plan Isn’t as Bold or Crazy as It Seems
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To be fair, slew of cars have bungled the puny overlap front crash test. IIHS created it five years ago to improve safety during crashes in which a car hits something—another vehicle, a tree, whatever—with an influence to one side of the bumper, not the center.
“It’s like a frontal crash that almost doesn’t happen,” says David Zuby, chief research officer at IIHS. He estimates that the test represents about twenty five percent of frontal collisions that earnestly injure or kill someone.
What makes this test so difficult is the front crumple zone doesn't extend all the way across the front of the car because the wheels need space to turn. Automakers, Zuby says, must figure out how to divert influence energy into that structure—and away from passengers.
Automakers also must control what happens to the front wheel and suspension in a corner influence. IIHS found that in this test of the Model S, the front left wheel shattered, and the brake rotor and caliper penetrated the passenger compartment. Meantime, the dummy’s head hit the steering wheel (through the airbag). “Maybe Tesla hadn’t thought through everything that needs to occur once you get past the front bumper area,” Zuby says.
While lots of cars have had trouble with this overlap test—the Fiat 500, Nissan Leaf, Dodge Challenger, and Toyota Tundra all scored a “marginal” or “poor” rating—many of the cars in the Model S’s class ravaged it, including the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Genesis G80 and G90, BMW five Series, Lexus RC, and Lincoln Continental.
“It’s not a major black mark against an automaker or a model,” Zuby says. “But we think that for those cars that aren’t earning the ‘Good’ rating, they can do something to improve protection.” Tesla cars have a solid structure to work with, Zuby says. “They just need to think more about these kinds of crashes.”
One more thing for Musk to add to his ever-growing pile of to-do projects.
Related Movie
Cadillac Challenges Tesla with a Super Wise Self-Driving Sedan
Cadillac’s fresh self-driving car isn’t just watching the road, it’s watching the driver. The system it calls “super cruise” is designed to crack the so-called “hand-off” problem.
