Preventing battery damage from road debris

[AlMc]

I agree, I was on I-280 heading to NYC this summer in my F-350 at 70mph and as I was going around a bend there was half of a truck tire in my lane that I hit with my tire, it jolted the truck hard but I drove right over it with no damage. Had I been in our VW Golf the minimum would have been body damage, max, a wreck.

I also agree about having the ability to have a higher ride option. Not only would it clear a certain percentage of the debris that the lower setting would not, it would also be good for people who live in regions that get significant snow fall.

I believe (obviously and opinion) that TM will bring out the ability to control/override the rtide height in a future firmware release. TM will present it as a good option for snow areas but it certainly would help with some, not all, road debris/battery incidents.

 

[dhrivnak]

I would think a software change to increase ride height would be a nice PR move to show the company is being proactive while studying the situation and to show the world how the can FIX the car over the air without having a technician touch it. If it turns out that the height makes little difference then it can be adjusted back down.

 

[AlMc]

I would think a software change to increase ride height would be a nice PR move to show the company is being proactive while studying the situation and to show the world how the can FIX the car over the air without having a technician touch it. If it turns out that the height makes little difference then it can be adjusted back down.

I think TM will make the adjustment but not even mention that it may help with road debris/battery damage..or suggest that it 'may' be a benefit. However, the stated reason will be for 'snow'. IF they did state it was primarily for the road debris/battery damage that would be a 'reactive' change not a proactive one in my book. Semantics...i know.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

I believe (obviously and opinion) that TM will bring out the ability to control/override the rtide height in a future firmware release. TM will present it as a good option for snow areas but it certainly would help with some, not all, road debris/battery incidents.

Agree also if I think, as I wrote in a previous post, that it will not help so much in the case of road debris/battery incidents.

- - - Updated - - -

I think TM will make the adjustment but not even mention that it may help with road debris/battery damage..or suggest that it 'may' be a benefit. However, the stated reason will be for 'snow'. IF they did state it was primarily for the road debris/battery damage that would be a 'reactive' change not a proactive one in my book. Semantics...i know.

Agree 100%

 

[PhilBa]

I think TM will make the adjustment but not even mention that it may help with road debris/battery damage..or suggest that it 'may' be a benefit. However, the stated reason will be for 'snow'. IF they did state it was primarily for the road debris/battery damage that would be a 'reactive' change not a proactive one in my book. Semantics...i know.

Raising the car will reduce the number of debris hits. I have no way of knowing how many, though.

I agree that it should be done. Elon saying "we won't make any changes" is bad for the image of the company. I wish he had said - we are always looking for ways to make the world's safest car even safer. Ford Pinto sales tanked because it was perceived to be fire hazard and Ford took a huge publicity hit because it was widely believed that they decided against fixing the problem because dealing with the lawsuits was cheaper. Tesla needs to always be on the side of safety first.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I agree that it should be done. Elon saying "we won't make any changes" is bad for the image of the company.

He said he won't be doing a recall on this issue, not that no changes will be made (which can be a "feature improvement" like the software update to allow setting ride height or a TSB). It's still kind of risky as it would look bad if NHTSA decides a recall is necessary (but I'm guessing Elon must be confident about it to make that statement).

 

[Raffy.Roma]

He said he won't be doing a recall on this issue, not that no changes will be made (which can be a "feature improvement" like the software update to allow setting ride height or a TSB). It's still kind of risky as it would look bad if NHTSA decides a recall is necessary (but I'm guessing Elon must be confident about it to make that statement).

Agree. Hope that in his Blog Elon will state what changes and improvements Tesla is going to do to the Model S. I would like Tesla worked out successfully this situation with improvements both to the performance and to the safety of the Model S making to become the Model S the best car of the world.
I can't wait for the Blog of Elon to come.

 

[JRP3]

Relevant to this thread, firmware update disables lowering at speed: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...ger-lowers-at-highway-speeds-(FW-update-v5-8)

 

[TEG]

I wonder if a front (frunk) motor in an AWD Model S would have prevented these problems? Would the sharp/tall road debris have hit the motor instead of the pack?

Also, we never heard about anything like this with Roadster, right?
Roadster seems to ride rather low to the ground, but the pack is further back with less exposed on the bottom of the vehicle.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Also, we never heard about anything like this with Roadster, right?
Roadster seems to ride rather low to the ground, but the pack is further back with less exposed on the bottom of the vehicle.

Yes but you can't do the same thing with the Model S since the battery pack has the purpose of lowering the centre of gravity of the Model S and all the handling of the car has been designed on the ground of such a center of gravity.

 

[aronth5]

I wonder if a front (frunk) motor in an AWD Model S would have prevented these problems? Would the sharp/tall road debris have hit the motor instead of the pack?

Also, we never heard about anything like this with Roadster, right?
Roadster seems to ride rather low to the ground, but the pack is further back with less exposed on the bottom of the vehicle.

Doubtful. The front motor is above the battery pack and its position wouldn't provide any additional protection.. At least based on this picture from Tesla's web site..

 

[TEG]

Yes but you can't do the same thing with the Model S since the battery pack has the purpose of lowering the centre of gravity of the Model S and all the handling of the car has been designed on the ground of such a center of gravity.

Plus model S was designed for quick pack-swap, but Roadster was not.

 

[Stuart1]

Actually I think a high powered laser would be the ticket. Vaporize the sucker!

- - - Updated - - -

I wonder about the fact that in 6 years there was never a Roadster fire, and for a year zero Model S fires, and then in 6 weeks three Model S fires due to unusual accidents. Tesla stock is heavily shorted and Shorts make their money when the price drops. They have gotten rich in the last few weeks. All I am saying is that if you are tooling down the freeway in your Model S following behind a Mercedes SUV with a "Greed is Good" bumper sticker and suddenly the rear hatch pops open and there is a guy in the back with a trailer hitch in his hands, ... change lanes fast!!!

 

[Gizmotoy]

The roadster batteries weren't in a giant sheet along the ground, and they only made, what, 1600 of them? And there's 20000+ Model Ses in just over a year? Lots of variables that makes it impossible to compare the two.

 

[Ron95030]

The roadster batteries weren't in a giant sheet along the ground, and they only made, what, 1600 of them? And there's 20000+ Model Ses in just over a year? Lots of variables that makes it impossible to compare the two.

You're right, this is not simple to compare the two. The Roadster had 6831 cells, divided into 11 sheets with 9 blocks each, all liquid cooled, in back.

The S has 7008, divided into 16 modules with a very similar number of cells per block but mounted down low.
-R

 

[JRP3]

Don't forget the bottom of the Roadster pack is also very low, and at least one owner had pack damage from road debris impact.

 

[Gwgan]

Anyone with the new smaller frunk? Can you look underneath and inside to see if this change resulted from better fireproofing?

 

[JRP3]

They shrank the frunk?

 

[Lloyd]

They shrank the frunk?

Yep, new cars have a shrunk frunk. :crying:

 

[InTheShadows]

Yep, new cars have a shrunk frunk. :crying:

How can you tell? We took delivery 2 weeks ago, I can check ours.