Electronic Stability Control

[PedanticOne]

I am trying to figure out (based on a thread over at the Tesla forums) what ESC is. It's listed as a separate item from Traction Control on the Tesla Model X specifications page. Yet in the Owner's Manual, the entry for Stability Control in the index takes you to the page for Traction Control. So... is there a separate stability control, and what does it exactly do?

My other thought is that maybe they mean how the air suspension will try to keep the car level.

 

[chillaban]

Generally, Traction Control only refers to the feature where torque is cut dramatically to prevent wheelspin. ESC is a complex 6-axis model of the movement of your car which tracks all your car's motions with an accelerometer and gyroscope and monitors for oversteer, understeer, left-right traction imbalance and so on.

However, it's very likely on modern cars both functions are provided by the same piece of hardware so the terms are somewhat interchangeable.

 

[PedanticOne]

Right. The description you gave is what I'd expect Stability Control to be. Just odd that they don't specify more about what it does or how it works anywhere.

 

[Pwdr Extreme]

I can speak from personal experience, the X does have both traction control AND stability control. T/C will prevent wheel slip when accelerating, stability control will help keep the car under control in situations causing it to slide or fish tail. They both work quite well.

 

[chillaban]

Well given that there's no way to defeat ESC and only a slight way of influencing Traction Control (slip start), I don't blame Tesla for not wanting to talk more about it.

I find that most manufacturers' wording of the ESC feature makes it sound like the car has supernatural abilities and coaxes drivers into driving dangerously.

 

[JAG]

Trailer stability control can be an OPTIONAL subset of ESC . Does model x have this to help prevent vehicle sway induced by a trailer, and subsequently delivers the correct braking inputs to reduce trailer sway itself once started to damp out the resonant positive feedback trailer sway?