Text/Qin Ming
As the automotive industry's standards for vehicle crash safety continue to improve, car companies have begun to look for safer and better body solutions. Tesla is also constantly looking for ways to improve the safety of cars by improving engineering and design. Due to the occurrence of many accidents before, many consumers have a particularly bad impression of Tesla. Not long ago, the China Insurance Research Institute conducted a crash test on the Model Y, so let's see if its safety is really criticized?
Among the body materials of the domestic Model Y, the number of ultra-high-strength steel (red) parts ≥ 1300MPA is 55, accounting for 18.7%; 550-1200MPA high-strength steel (yellow) parts are 113, accounting for 38.3%; 37 soft steel (blue) parts, accounting for 12.5%; aluminum (gray) parts are 90, accounting for 30.5%, and the high-strength material ensures the sturdiness of the crew compartment, so in the collision realization, the Model Although the front of the car has been hit horribly, the driver in the car has not been injured in any way, including the legs have not been squeezed, which is very commendable.
However, it is not the higher the strength of the material, it must be good, when considering the material, you also need to take into account the weight of the vehicle, after all, the greater the weight, the greater the inertia, the greater the force of the collision rebound, so it is also necessary to ensure lightweight. Model Y uses steel aluminum hybrid frame, weight of 370 kg, aluminum compared to steel, although the strength is not as good as steel, but better than lightweight rust, so Model Y in the key parts of the body using high-strength steel to ensure robustness, Model Y is Tesla's first use of integrated die casting technology model, in the manufacturing conditions of the giant die casting machine, Tesla will integrate more than 70 parts into a solid and complete component, enhance structural strength, improve production efficiency, reduce cost and weight.
The one-piece thermoformed inner and outer door rings (boron steel), roof front beams (boron steel) and roof rear beams (high-strength steel) together form a ring-enclosed structure that provides strong support for the Model Y body. The innovative structural design of the battery pack tiled under the body also greatly improves the overall structural strength of the Model Y, reducing the risk of intrusion of rollovers and side collisions.
Compared with the frontal collision, the side collision obviously does not have any room to absorb energy. When a side collision occurs, the impact energy will act directly on the B-pillar and the chassis, if its strength is insufficient, deformed or broken in the collision, the external object will directly invade the crew compartment, posing a threat to the occupants inside the car. In addition, after the deformation of the crew compartment, it will also compress the survival and activity space of the occupants in the car, increasing their chances of casualties.
Moedl Y one-piece thermoformed annular closed structure, can provide strong support, the battery tiled at the bottom of the body of the structural design, not only for the side impact to play a protective role, but also to reduce the risk of rollover, from the figure can also be seen that the model Y side structure is also very strong, as long as the B column from the driver's seat midline distance of more than 12cm can get G (excellent) evaluation, and the Model The Y score is 28.5cm, which is a very top-notch performance, coupled with the protection of the side air curtain, the personnel in the car are also safe and sound.
The roof strength test, mainly to test the vehicle's ability to be pressed by the weight above, can see that the Model Y can withstand the pressure of 94175N, equivalent to two African elephants stepping, equivalent to 6 times the weight of the body.
Sometimes it is not only necessary to ensure the safety of the occupants of the car, but also to minimize the damage caused to pedestrians if it hits a pedestrian, which is why the front and rear fenders of all models are made of plastic instead of stronger iron and aluminum. In the pedestrian safety index project, Model Y scored a full score on the leg of the model, which can minimize the damage to pedestrians when encountering a collision, and the head test has also achieved excellent results.
Vehicle auxiliary safety index is to measure the active safety performance of the vehicle, when it comes to Tesla safety assistance, many people may be about to spray, but according to the authoritative test of the China Insurance Research Institute, Tesla has ultra-high safety in terms of active safety, whether it is for the car or for people Emergency braking performance is very good, model Y camera and sensor can bring 360 degrees of field perception processing. Tesla has always been a leader in assisted driving, and although full autonomous driving has not yet been achieved, it is very mature in terms of assisted driving technology.
Tesla was all excellent on the china insurance research test report card, and only one item achieved a poor score, but it did not affect the safety issue. Model Y crash resistance and maintenance economy obtained a P rating, which means that if the Model Y accident needs to be repaired, the cost will not be low, just because of the Tesla integrated structural design, if a certain place is damaged, it is necessary to repair the entire frame, and the maintenance cost is naturally relatively high.
All along, Tesla emphasizes "design to safety first", its models do not have a "safety level", all meet the highest safety standards, and fully protect the safety of users, because of this, Tesla's model talent is recognized by the majority of global car owners.