Case Study: Deer Strike in a MYP

[JACMS3]

No one thinks car may be a write off.
Sorry to read what happened to your y. Good you are not hurt.

 

[Freewheeler]

cars are designed to crumble on impact so the people in the car are unharmed. if youre in an accident and your car looks more messed up, the better!

You know, I agree but will respectfully differ in my opinion on this point. I’ve been hit by deer before (as opposed to hitting a deer) and I felt the car shudder, but the car suffered nothing more than a crimp in the fender or slightly indented door. In this case I felt nothing; it was literally like watching a movie.

I would rather have felt the impact and suffered less damage than suffer this much damage and not feel a thing. I’m not a pussy; I can take it. I was not in danger hitting a 200# meat bag rather than a 5,000# SUV, and I think a car should not sacrifice so much of itself when the only life threatening aspect is my reaction (swerving and hitting a tree, which the car is prepared for) or windshield penetration (low risk). Basically, I believe there’s a point where crumple zones exceed their intended purpose of protecting the occupant’s life for the purpose of insulating them from these experiences entirely. My opinion, but seriously, IMHO this Is disproportionate damage to risk of life.

I am not a Tesla dissenter, hell, I’ve been saving for over a year to buy this thing and me and my wife can’t wait to have it back. What I am is a first time buyer who’s in shock at the fragility of the car under circumstances, and the fact I’m going through it. I’ve fared far better with in the past. Yes, with ICE cars, but still, we aren’t supposed to be making sacrifices on EV’s, right?

My nerves have become raw through the day, so please forgive any brevity.

 

[frankvb]

Those crumple zones are not just there for the people inside the vehicle, but also for the people (or animals in this case) outside.

 

[DDrawer]

Also keep in mind that level of crumple is one of the big reasons why that car is one of the safest cars available. Sure you didn't need the extra safety in this scenario, but if that was another 5000# vehicle you hit instead of a deer, you'd want every possible little bit of extra safety they could provide for you. And they can't have it so there are less crumple zones for X scenario and more crumple zones for Y scenario, you either crumple to the max crumple available, or the sacrifice some crumple for safety in all scenarios.

 

[Freewheeler]

Duly noted frankvb & DDrawer!

 

[VT_EE]

You know, I agree but will respectfully differ in my opinion on this point. I’ve been hit by deer before (as opposed to hitting a deer) and I felt the car shudder, but the car suffered nothing more than a crimp in the fender or slightly indented door. In this case I felt nothing; it was literally like watching a movie.

I would rather have felt the impact and suffered less damage than suffer this much damage and not feel a thing. I’m not a pussy; I can take it. I was not in danger hitting a 200# meat bag rather than a 5,000# SUV, and I think a car should not sacrifice so much of itself when the only life threatening aspect is my reaction (swerving and hitting a tree, which the car is prepared for) or windshield penetration (low risk). Basically, I believe there’s a point where crumple zones exceed their intended purpose of protecting the occupant’s life for the purpose of insulating them from these experiences entirely. My opinion, but seriously, IMHO this Is disproportionate damage to risk of life.

I am not a Tesla dissenter, hell, I’ve been saving for over a year to buy this thing and me and my wife can’t wait to have it back. What I am is a first time buyer who’s in shock at the fragility of the car under circumstances, and the fact I’m going through it. I’ve fared far better with in the past. Yes, with ICE cars, but still, we aren’t supposed to be making sacrifices on EV’s, right?

My nerves have become raw through the day, so please forgive any brevity.

The Model Y will be sold in Europe and must comply with pedestrian collision regulations. It looks like the Model Y performed as designed.

 

[DavidB]

The Model Y will be sold in Europe and must comply with pedestrian collision regulations.

The hood (or, at least the hinge assembly) is redesigned to comply with European regulations. The American version doesn't pass those regs.

 

[VT_EE]

The hood (or, at least the hinge assembly) is redesigned to comply with European regulations. The American version doesn't pass those regs.

How does a different hood hinge affect the ability of a pedestrian to survive a hit? Does it have some kind of spring that lets the hood bounce if a person lands on it? Also, without major surgery to the Model Y front end, there aren't a lot of options for a different hood. What are the differences between Tesla American and European hoods?

 

[LasVegas2019]

When I lived in Idaho, hitting deer was all too common. This is what I put on the front of my F450. When you hit a deer there was typically little to no damage to the truck. Hitting one in MY scares me especially after seeing these pics. Fortunately I now live in the city and less chance of deer. Glad your ok!

 

[jbcarioca]

The hood (or, at least the hinge assembly) is redesigned to comply with European regulations. The American version doesn't pass those regs.

IIRC, all Teslae are designed to meet the physical requirements everywhere. There are unique lighting, labeling and control regulations that differ market to market, but perhaps the most consequential differences are in charge port design. Other than that most Chinese manufactured cars do have different batteries than do Fremont-built vehicles.

As for physical damage: There all current production EU certified cars do have specific and strict pedestrian safety regulations:
https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2018/wp29grsp/GRSP-63-31e.pdf

Sadly for @Freewheeler a consequence of those rules is design to collapse when colliding with living beings (OK, large mammals). The good news is that for Model 3 and Model Y such repairs are normally not problematical. The fluid probably means replacement of the radiator or connectors (IIRC from the Munro teardown the radiator is located beneath and slightly in from of the octovalve, so that, too will be fairly simple to replace.

FWIW, when my new Model 3 Performance was hit by a truck and trailer when it was only five days old, in September 2018. Initial estimates were for $28,000 to repair, but it ended out being $14,500, including replacing the entire left side of the car, both bumpers, two wheels and tires plus my entire wrap and ceramic coating. Luckily I was not driving and it ended out being the fault fo the other driver anyway. I was paid for diminished value, offered by my insurer, I did not ask.

I hope it works out as well for you. Mine is indistinguishable from new.

 

[DanCar]

Is there video? Did the dear walk away?

 

[MY-Y]

When I lived in Idaho, hitting deer was all too common. This is what I put on the front of my F450. When you hit a deer there was typically little to no damage to the truck. Hitting one in MY scares me especially after seeing these pics. Fortunately I now live in the city and less chance of deer. Glad your ok!
View attachment 544415

Hey, it's great to see another 2017+ F450 owner on the forum! (2017 KR towing machine)

 

[Freewheeler]

After some thought and introspection, plus analyzing the photos again, I appreciate the accuracy with which the car absorbed the impact and shed the load around the soft parts of the car up to the expensive parts, like frame, doors and windshield. Other than the fluid leak, which I suspect is connectors/piping to the heat exchanger (radiator) being compromised, I have no doubt the integrity of the car is intact while the deer managed to walk away from the scene...well, fly away...at least for a while. If I were a pedestrian there is no other car I would rather be struck by. Thanks to those who helped mold my viewpoint on the matter. I was also bent out of shape.

DanCar: As for video; as I mentioned earlier I had a usb flash plugged in and downloaded the dash cam footage but it only showed my wife’s trip to the grocery store earlier that day. I honestly haven’t studied how that all works (having only had the car for a week) so may have done something wrong. In any case, no footage and I’ll sort that out when I get her back.

Anyway, hope the pic help everyone visualize the MY performance under these circumstances.

 

[im4uttx]

After some thought and introspection, plus analyzing the photos again, I appreciate the accuracy with which the car absorbed the impact and shed the load around the soft parts of the car up to the expensive parts, like frame, doors and windshield. Other than the fluid leak, which I suspect is connectors/piping to the heat exchanger (radiator) being compromised, I have no doubt the integrity of the car is intact while the deer managed to walk away from the scene...well, fly away...at least for a while. If I were a pedestrian there is no other car I would rather be struck by. Thanks to those who helped mold my viewpoint on the matter. I was also bent out of shape.

DanCar: As for video; as I mentioned earlier I had a usb flash plugged in and downloaded the dash cam footage but it only showed my wife’s trip to the grocery store earlier that day. I honestly haven’t studied how that all works (having only had the car for a week) so may have done something wrong. In any case, no footage and I’ll sort that out when I get her back.

Anyway, hope the pic help everyone visualize the MY performance under these circumstances.

Perspective is a good thing. Around 25 years ago, my wife and I took a trip from Austin to Dallas in her new Camaro. In Dallas, we were on a 8-or-10-lane I30 (4-5 lanes in each direction), 18 wheeler in right-most lane, we were in left most or 2nd from left...18-wheeler brake pad (large, qtr moon object) released from the trailer (I think), came skipping across the lanes towards us, went under the car. When we arrived at out destination a few minutes later, looked at the damage to the front (ripped through the spoiler), my wife was quite upset, until I reminded her that it could have skipped up into the windshield instead of under the car....she quickly agreed it could have been MUCH worse...and wasn't nearly as upset...

 

[TEZLA3]

Exactomento.

cars are designed to crumble on impact so the people in the car are unharmed. if youre in an accident and your car looks more messed up, the better!

 

[lglover35]

Totally unavoidable, not. Deer country at night and 40 mph is not safe driving as you should now well know.

 

[Bad Dolphin]

Thanks for the well-wishes. The only damage to me is psychological. Really bummed and there’s the fact that I’ll be living with a crash-repaired car I just got a week ago. The place the car is going to is highly regarded and Tesla certified, so I trust it will come back as good as new.

Regarding any warning: I think the car had a blind spot In these specific circumstances. This deer entered the road running a full clip from brush on the side of the road and entered just ahead of the bumper. Pitch black out. The radar is front facing so wouldn’t see anything. The side camera is visual and wouldn’t likely have seen the deer in the brush, then there’s the parking sensors which aren’t intended to serve that purpose.

The car didn’t alert me at all, even after impact when half the sensors flew out of the bumper and the deer was flying through the air. I thought it was odd not to be alerted of any issues.

No airbags as I think they’re associated with the bumper beam which looks fine and maybe some G-sensors / accelerometers which wouldn’t have noticed anything.

My takeaway is not without blind spots and that the body is very “soft” up front. You can dent the hood by not closing it correctly. Everything was affected but in my opinion not everything should have. The fenders in particular. The front edges are hardly damaged yet the entire fenders are tweaked to the doors. This will make these cars expensive to insure over time. I hope my accident forgiveness is intact on my policy!

I think that they car did its job well, as the forces involved are considerable and yiu said that the damage to you—the most valuable and irreplaceable part of the “car”—was non-existent. Airbags look like they were not needed based on what you wrote.

My brother hit an elk in Colorado and his Acura SUV was totaled. The elk’s antlers went through the windshield and one if the spears stopped one inch short of his chest. Whew! The car was totaled. So you are very fortunate.

Sadly, I suspect the repair may actually be north of 20k. This is the trade off for great cars that protect us, but do so by being the proverbial willow tree that bends instead of the strong oak that does not. Make sure you get a really good TIME estimate for the repair, which will depend not only on how busy the ship is but on that one part that they can’t readily obtain. That way, you and your insurance company can better manage your experience.

So sorry you had to go thru this, but glad your car protected you.

 

[Tiger816]

I'm truly sorry this happened to you.

And I genuinely hope you find a bit of humor in this:

 

[tsmithlxix]

I fell your pain. Just hit a deer about three weeks ago in my Model S. Was able to slow to about 25-30 mph at the at the time of impact. The worst part is everyone telling you that " I thought Teslas were smart." Yeah, but it's physically impossible to have a 0-foot stopping distance. There was a group of 3 deer that darted out in front of me so swerving was out of the question. Oh well... hood, headlight, bumper and nosecone and surround... about $4800.

 

[Supernaut]

Note to self: remember to install the deer whistles