I had a minor accident :-(

[cinergi]

I'm OK, everyone involved is OK.. the car has (relatively) minor damage. This is what happens when you "rear end" (or rather, drive under) a mini-van ...

Funny it happened this way a few days after I posted that I agree the Roadster doesn't stop particularly well. I realize the physics involved when the car in front of you slams on the brakes and you slam yours on (you're always going faster, unless your braking system is better) .. but the mini-van did a much better job stopping than I did!

Happened this morning, so I have no details on cost and all that yet.. but I have to have a $2,000 deductible to keep my insurance manageable (guess what's going up?) ... it LOOKS like I just need a new bumper (plastic, right?), 2 headlights, supporting structures underneath, and the 3M paint-protector stuff replaced on the hood. The hood appears to have been well-protected from damage because of that stuff! Won't need an expensive carbon-fiber hood replacement (hopefully)!

ah, good times ...

 

[AnOutsider]

Well, glad you're ok man! Hope you don't get reamed on repairs

 

[benji4]

Thank goodness no injuries or worse! The Roadster really is scary when you are following somebody and have to slam the brakes on. How close were you following, about what speed, and did you start breaking immediately after when the mini-van started slowing? Maybe the most painful part of this is going to be waiting for the car to get back to you.

I've nearly ended up like the above 2 or 3 times and am always suprised how heavy the Roadster feels when you need to break suddenly. These days I leave plenty of room between the car in front unless I can get the pole position!

 

[AnOutsider]

From your blog:

The actual brakes are weaker than I expected. I have tried mashing the brakes as hard as possible at 60 MPH. I need to apply far more force and slow down less quickly than I expected. My STi does much better here.

Sincerely hope this is much improved in the Model S or that brake upgrades are fairly simple.

 

[zack]

I've got a couple of lights that were just taken out of my Roadster and replaced with the xenon shuttered ones today. If you're interested let me know. Probably won't help you much unless you can get the whole repair under the deductible, which doesn't look likely! Sorry to hear about your wedgie experience.

My Ranger told me that he recommends upgrading the front brakes to higher performance ones. I know there's a thread here on that.

 

[cinergi]

Several car-lengths behind at 45 MPH when the braking started (just checked the logs). I reacted very quickly (it was instant slam-on-the-brakes). When I hit, we were both still moving forward, but it was closer to 20 MPH I'd say -- it wasn't a particularly violent hit.

 

[cinergi]

From your blog:



Sincerely hope this is much improved in the Model S or that brake upgrades are fairly simple.

In this case it's not really the brakes (you can apply enough force to lock up / engage ABS) -- more that the car is heavy, the front tires are small, and the 65/35 weight distribution (not allowing for a lot of grip in the front when braking).

 

[Doug_G]

In this case it's not really the brakes (you can apply enough force to lock up / engage ABS) -- more that the car is heavy, the front tires are small, and the 65/35 weight distribution (not allowing for a lot of grip in the front when braking).

If you hammered the brakes I'm sure they worked. Checked your tires lately?

 

[NigelM]

Looks like a low speed impact and good that no-one was hurt. Fingers crossed that the repairs are quick at least.

 

[hcsharp]

Very sorry to hear this happened to you. Hoping I will learn from your experience. Maybe you don't want to make an insurance claim. Rates are so high in MA as it is, if you can get this done for 3.5k or so you might be better off just to pay for it. I'm worried when you take your bumper and lights off you might find more damage than it looks.

 

[dsm363]

That sucks. So glad you and everyone else is ok though. Hope you get it back fixed soon.

 

[slcasner]

That looks like one of the license plate brackets that I designed. It is interesting to see how the bracket fares in a collision (I've known of a couple of others). In this case, it looks like the bracket was not hit in the initial collision, but perhaps was knocked downward when your car pulled back out from underneath the mini-van.

 

[jcstp]

Drive An Electric Car? Remember To Exercise Your Car’s Brakes!

An article that appeared today!
Maybe a good advice for every ev driver!

 

[Doug_G]

Drive An Electric Car? Remember To Exercise Your Car’s Brakes!

An article that appeared today!
Maybe a good advice for every ev driver!

I periodically go out and do a few hard stops, to clean off the rotors.

The procedure he's describing is a full-up bedding-in process, which is usually done after changing pads. It wouldn't hurt to do it once in a while.

 

[Jaff]

Sorry to hear about your accident Ben...glad to hear you're OK though.

I'd imagine the CF front nose piece is at least $3-4,000 to replace (not including the bumper) prior to painting & installation.

In my mishap, I had to replace the driver's side quarter panel... it's glued (not bolted) onto the car...the cost of the CF panel alone in it's raw state was $1,800 CAD...then it had to be primed, painted, installed, and painted again, then the stone guard installed / applied...lots of labour cost increased the total repair cost to almost $14,000 CAD


)

You're looking at $10K easily as the bumper is CF. (Confirmed through a ranger visit when I asked about the license bracket.)

I had something similar almost happen but I swerved right and onto the shoulder. The same guy caused an accident a few cars back from me.

 

[smorgasbord]

The procedure he's describing is a full-up bedding-in process, which is usually done after changing pads.

Just an FYI: when I got a tour of final assembly in Menlo Park, they told me that they fully bed Roadster pads before delivery.

 

[cinergi]

That looks like one of the license plate brackets that I designed. It is interesting to see how the bracket fares in a collision (I've known of a couple of others). In this case, it looks like the bracket was not hit in the initial collision, but perhaps was knocked downward when your car pulled back out from underneath the mini-van.

It's been slowly "degrading" from various "bumps and bruises" (e.g. getting caught on my pants or coat or something) ... it does look like it's facing downwards more than it was before the accident though :smile:

 

[cinergi]

BTW just to be clear, the *brakes* worked fine. The traction between the front tires and the road was insufficient. I am on winter (Hankook) tires, too (they're in good shape).

 

[hcsharp]

Ben is your car still drivable? During the day?

 

[brianman]

Well, glad you're ok man! Hope you don't get reamed on repairs

I think you mean "I hope you don't get rear-ended on repairs."