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

Probably one of the safest vehicles to drive on the roads before the modification and now it is way overkill. Sure Tesla isn't German?

 

The concrete block crushing is rather impressive!

 

These are computer graphic simulations.

 

Titanium...hmm any sparks? seem to recall Ti golf clubs had that

 

Not what it says on the Tesla site:

"Thanks to high speed cameras fixed underneath the cars during testing, we have a close-up view of what happens to the objects on impact. As illustrated in the slow motion videos below, the shields destroy everything from a solid concrete block to a steel alternator and safely capture and eject objects made of ultra-hard steel."

 

Without gasoline, what's the worry?

What's the backup plan if Russia cuts off the titanium?

 

Tesla has the money to buy Russia.

 

According to wiki, Russia is not the top producer of Titanium.

 

What's the concern? The car behind the Tesla! Or the gollf clubs are starting brush fires. But maybe this is a non-issue. Golf clubs may have different chemistry (Ti coating).

 

Tesla makes an amazing car. I wish I had that kind of money.

 

That Elon bloke doesn't mess about does he.

The car should now be much much safer. On that note, and for the benefit of anybody who doesn't bother to read the link, just check the following out;

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 on the other side of the road and tearing off the right front wheel, before crashing into a tree. The driver stepped out and walked away with no permanent injuries and a fire, again limited to the front section of the vehicle, started several minutes later. The underbody shields will help prevent a fire even in such a scenario.

The driver stepped out and walked away! After crashing his car at 110 mph!! I want a Tesla S.

And as we know from the unfortunate accident involving Paul Walker, not everyone is so lucky!

 

I was going off the knowledge that the Soviet Union used titanium for their submarine hulls, and the US really didn't have the resources to do so. USSR boats might have been noisier, but they could go deeper and had some fast ones.

Russia is the third top producer, and any stoppage from them will effect price.

In the case of the golf clubs, the club needs to hit a rock or something while next to dry vegetation. These sparks last for about a second, and are hot enough to start a fire if they land on kindling. If any sparks greater than this should visible in the films. Such sparks coming off a S are only a concern if the car is taken for joy rides through fields. On pavement, someone would have to make the car a lowrider, which might be very doable with the air suspension, and install a titanium drag bar for the sparks to concern. Even then, I'd still have more concern about all the lit cigarette buts being flicked out car windows.

Plus, the plastic aero shield appears to be covering at least part of the titanium section.

 

It was about the cost not the availability. The high price cost of titanium led to the soviets abandoning titanium hulls. The US navy just never thought the price was justified.

About half of the titanium comes from australia, south africa, and canada. The bulk of Russian titanium comes from ukranium ore. I don't see what would be in it for russia or the ukraine to cut off production of titanium. With the Ukrainians deeply in debt, I doubt they want to stop exports.

I'm sure tesla is only using a little titanium in each car.

 

I love it ... what if this ... what if that ... You have a car that is safer in an order of an 8 magnitude minimum, above all other road vehicles. So the only thing left to do is ask what if we run out of hardened materials? Seriously? What if an asteroid hits it ... what if and RPG is fired at it ... what if the driver shoves a live white phosphorus grenade up his butt ...
You have nearly a quarter million gasoline fires per year and nevermind the deaths and injuries. Do you see Ford, Chevy, Chrysler, BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai, Subaru, Nissan, VW, Fiat, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Renault, Ferrari, or any other company worrying about the 99.9999% of auto injury/deaths, by making their containers of 20 gallons of high explosive virtually impenatrable? What if peak oil becomes so serious that we all have to seriously limit ICE car driving, & more & more of us have to start driving these horribly dangerous electric vehicles.
I guess that would be like the problem with titanium ... we'd have to really start to worry about it
.

 

My first thought was how impressive the car protected the occupants then though, wait a minute, they have Tesla in Mexico?

 

Yep, all 50 states, Mexico and Canada. That's a good thing.

 

Not in Arizona, Texas or New Jersey.

 

I saw 2 this morning in austin, more tesla's then leafs. They just can't sell them from the tesla showrooms in texas, they have a maintenance facility, super charger, and show room here.


There's now a Tesla Model S registered in all 50 states

 

I imagine the number of Tesla supercharger stations in Mississippi and West Virginia are probably pretty minimal. Whether this is a cause or effect of Tesla sales is a discussion topic.