Test: Swedish Auto motor & sport

[Hybris]

The Swedish auto motor & sport have now run Tesla model S tests in the two latest editions of the magazine.

in the latest they did test the model s vs BMW M550xd and Lexus GS450h. The model S won big time. The cons they noted regarding the tesla was high insurance price, the headroom in the back, the not so good headrests that would probably be bad in a whiplash situation, the seats and interior quality, not tested, the very expensive service, laxk pf euro NCAP test, no cleaning of the headlights (actually law over here...), no automatic brakingsystem (will be mandatory in 2015). The index for the tesla was 403, the Lexus 155 and the BMW 111... So it ate the other cars alive. The cons just to tell what could be improved... ;-) they think the car is amazing but expensive. Its also cool that in the special round focusimg on sporty car the tesla got 22,5 points, the Lwxus 16,5 and the BMW 16... The BMW to heavy with 4*4... They called the Tesla like a big lotus Evora!!!

The car was a P85+. They noted the huge difference vs the car they tested in the edition before that was a P85 with the allyear tires... Huge difference with real summer tires and the +... ;-)

i did not expect the model S to eat the M550xd alive but it did! ;-)

 

[Twoeagle]

:biggrin:

 

[StephenM]

Most excellent!!! Thank you for sharing.

 

[AudubonB]

Sounds very good. Two questions:

1. if Swedish law mandates headlight cleaning, will the Model S not be allowed to be sold there?

and

2. if they faulted the Model S for rear headroom, I am going to guess they were testing a vehicle without the panoramic roof. That option provides notably more headroom; I am 183cm and it is higher than I need.

 

[Hybris]

1. There was some strange excuse from tesla... Not sure its ok... Tesla say it is but... The magazine said headlight cleaning did come in 1960s... Clearly a car not designed and tested for winter conditions as headlight cleaning is core for those markets... I know it perform very well in the winter but did not know there was no headlight cleaning... Security feature actually...
2. Yes it was without panorama

 

[L@urens]

Xenon auto leveling and headlight cleaning is mandatory in many places in the EU. Did this car have Xenon?

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

.../ no cleaning of the headlights (actually law over here...) /...

Are you sure?

.../ Bilen bör vara försedd med strålkastarrengörare eftersom vårt ofta smutsiga och slaskiga väglag snabbt försämrar hel- och halvljusets funktion.

[...]

Senast uppdaterad/granskad 2013-02-06


Source: Körsäkerhet - Trafikverket

Am actually unsure myself, but found the following at the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) – (my translation and italic):

The car should be equipped with headlight cleaning since our often dirty and slushy roads rapidly can worsen the functionality of the full/high beams and the dipped headlights.

This information was latest reviewed the 6th of February this year.

 

[Hybris]

That is what the magazine said. Never had a car without so dont know for sure... ;-)

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All Techpackage teslas do have Xenon headlights

 

[kiefer]

Hi

Same rules regarding headlight cleaning applies to Denmark.

/Martin

 

[jkirkebo]

Hi

Same rules regarding headlight cleaning applies to Denmark.

/Martin

Headlight cleaning and automatic levelling is only required in the EU if the headlights put out more than 2000 lumens. TMS has 25W xenons which go under this limit and thus escapes the requirements.

Personally I'm happy about that. In my experience Headlight washers work very poorly but use a lot of fluid. And automatic levelling sometimes fails and can be expensive to fix. With air suspension it should not be needed anyway.

 

[Hybris]

Well cleaning the headlights manually seems like going back to 1960... In the winter over here with salt etc its always a mess and headlights do get dirty quick... Headlightwashing helps a lot. Sad that its not standard... Should be fixed.

 

[AudubonB]

TO Hybris and other Swedes:

Headlights getting dirty quick is, I agree, a function of driving in near-0ºC conditions. I can absolutely attest that most of my own driving occurs at temperatures either far lower or far higher than that, and thus your problem is not my problem. So....

Jumping right to the conclusion of the intervening logic, at what point does a manufacturer end trying to make its product absolutely perfect for absolutely all of its potential clients? For me, for example, there are many points about a Model S that are less than ideal: much of my driving is on roads that would destroy an M1 Abrams tank. Should my response be "Durn it all, TMC! Make the vehicle right for that!" Hmmm.....

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Hi

Same rules regarding headlight cleaning applies to Denmark.

/Martin

I guess jkirkebo already addressed this one on the previous page (Post #10). Otherwise it could perhaps be phrased like this:

Would that be the rule that there doesn’t seem to be a rule? :wink:

 

[Hybris]

Well as all other cars sold in the market have headlight cleaning it might be an idea to fix....

i also agree with the magazine that the small and narrow headrests is not good for protecting the neck in a whiplash situation. Small things to fix for Tesla but both important for safety.

if you are not ready to sell in a market then dont... norway, Sweden, finland, etc do have the same conditions. Similar in germany etc...

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

.../ i also agree with the magazine that the small and narrow headrests is not good for protecting the neck in a whiplash situation. Small things to fix for Tesla but both important for safety. /...

I haven’t seen the piece(s) in Auto Motor & Sport. Do you remember if they had pictures or some other kind of illustration to illustrate this issue?

 

[Hybris]

Regarding the headrests in the back they are purely design vs safety. If you have seen them live you know have narrow they are. There is a reason for the not so good looking headrests in the back of cars. The point is that if your head miss the headrest in a crash that is very bad and will probably cause some bad whiplash damage. I personally dont like the font seats either. Narrow seats, not good support and bad headrest design with no room to fit clothhangers, tablets etc. Not a dealbreaker at all just things that could improve. I will miss the wonderful comfort seats in my BMW. But as said details... ;-)

- - - Updated - - -

No pictures to explain the problem in the article. But those details pulled down the safety points formthe tesla. The other cars actually won that part of the test. Pretty sure a euro NCAP test would change that result a lot. ;-)

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Regarding headlight cleaning – I agree. Headlight cleaning is a good idea, and if it’s possible for Tesla to start to equip the cars they produce with this feature, I guess I can’t really see a reason why they shouldn’t.


- - - Updated - - -

And no, I haven’t seen the headrests. Unfortunately ( :redface: ) there’s just no way I can afford a Model S right now…

This was however posted in another thread on this topic:

Rear seat whiplash protection (?) (Post #4)

.../ I was told by a Tesla rep that whiplash protection is integrated in the roof design. Take a close look next time, you'll see. Or better, sitting in the back, move your head up and backwards and you feel it.

Edit: you can actually see how the roofliner goes down to provide protection from whiplash here in this video from cinergi:

In the meantime.. Here's a 5'11" guy in the Model S without the panoramic roof ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIkP4JOxlFA

I actually haven’t seen anything that illustrates this issue from a side view – and I have been keeping an eye out…

 

[Hybris]

Ha ha ha... The low roof whiplash protection? Funny.... Seriously need headrests for that. ;-)

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

I think I agree that a proper headrest is a better idea (but since I haven’t seen the back seat, and since I’m just a layman perhaps it’s best to withhold judgment)…

But no. Not the low roof. :smile: (Or at least I don't think so...)

I guess it is difficult to make out in the video, but as I understand it there is a pretty thick padded boxed-shape structural section that appears to be pretty vertical in it’s shape at the back end of the roof, above where the tiny back seat headrests end in an imaginary xy plane according to Fig. 2 below (if that makes any sense... ).

If you look closely in the circled area you’ll perhaps be able to make out the contour of it (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

 

[Hybris]

Well maybe they did something with the roof but pretty sure its not that helpful in a crash vs real and broader fixed headrests. In some areas the old carmakers still have more experience. But pretty sure they will fixe those small glitches in future versions.

The car seem as safe as a large SUV in a crash. Wonder if they are going to do a Euro NCAP test? Important to prove the safety in Europe. Anyone heard?