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Titanium undershield for Roadsters?

wiztecy

Active Member
Apr 29, 2012
2,905
563
Santa Cruz, California, United States
Titanium is strong but it still has give and will stretch a little. I was a little worried it would still allow a gouge in the titanium plating after hitting road debris, but after watching their video tests it appears to hold up very well to abuse combined combined in this 3 shield armor design. Nice Job Tesla!

As for the Roadster, as Augie discovered, any battery pack that has any surface area to the ground is vulnerable to road debris impact and possible failure. Would be nice / reassuring to have a titanium plate and improved guard under its pack too.
 

ecarfan

Well-Known Member
Sep 21, 2013
19,186
13,841
San Mateo, CA
Wow. I am blown away by the commitment Tesla has to vehicle and driver safety.

Mods: perhaps this post should be moved the the S Driving Dynamics forum?
 

spentan

Active Member
Dec 26, 2012
1,507
449
SoCal
Isn't the roadster battery pack much higher up and better protected (than a slab making up the floor of the car)
 

Doug_G

Lead Moderator
Apr 2, 2010
17,877
3,337
Ottawa, Canada
No, the pack extends all the way to the bottom of the car. It is however near the rear of the car, so I doubt you'd see a "piking" incident reaching the battery pack.
 

djp

Model 3 Performance
Aug 28, 2011
1,120
59
Toronto, Canada
The exposed surface area is a lot smaller than the Model S, but it also rides lower to the ground. At least one pack has been damaged by road debris, so it's a risk, although a low one.

I don't think the risk or number of cars is high enough to justify the design and retrofit. Hopefully the "something cool for Roadster owners" is something cooler than a piece of sheet metal!
 

smorgasbord

Active Member
Jun 3, 2011
3,193
5,059
SF Bay Area
I agree with most of the statements made so far about battery location and exposure. But, we also have to keep in mind that Model S has covered way more miles than Roadster, so statistically Roadster hasn't been proven to be safer than Model S. I also think the kind of person driving a Roadster is far different than the kind of person driving a Model S, or the general population for that matter. We know our cars are low to the ground, Model S drivers don't feel it in their pants like we do. There's also something about driving a Roadster than simply demands your attention at all times - it's one of the things that makes driving Roadster such a blast for me, even after 30K miles.
 

augkuo

Member
Apr 24, 2011
975
2,917
Berkeley
One roadster battery punctured
At least one roadster floor pan punctured (not my car pictured - this is the front) -
could have injured the driver!
roadster_hole.jpg
 

pharma5

Roadster F#25, Model 3 #36xx
Nov 22, 2011
555
113
central NJ
...don't feel it in their pants like we do.

One roadster battery punctured
At least one roadster floor pan punctured (not my car pictured - this is the front) -
could have injured the driver!

The "main deflector" - keeping Kirk and Spock from getting hit in the pants at warp speed since 1966:wink::
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Navigational_deflector.

main deflector.jpg


Would be good to have more shielding for Roadster.

But hope the 2014 surprise is something else...
 

rugbymonk

Roadster #287; S Sig #14
Apr 25, 2010
34
3
NJ
Have any better under panels become available?
Hi all,
I have a 2008 Roadster (#287) and the under-panel is rattling like crazy. The holes where the screws go seem to be deteriorating.
Are you aware of any products designed to strengthen and quiet that part?
It seems like some basic sheet-metal work and some well placed rubber should do the trick. Any suggestions for someone obviously not proficient technically :)
Thanks!
 

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