Tesla Model S crash beam teardown to see how good the car is?
Who isn't interested in the interior of this million-level new Tesla Model S? Especially what is the 4D millimeter-wave radar that claims to be able to replace lidar? Today we will take this car apart and start with the anti-collision beam to talk to you!
bodywork
All-aluminum skin
Except for the plastic parts, all the skin of this car is made of aluminum alloy, and even the A-pillar, C-pillar, and rear fender are all made of aluminum alloy. Of course, it is natural for million-level cars to use aluminum alloy.
Disassemble the front cabin, the internal pipeline arrangement is very neat, in the case of the front motor, it can still vacate such a large space, and it is not easy to place the front trunk, which shows that Tesla's level of integration of three electric and thermal management is quite high.
Between the "tops" of the two sides is an aluminum alloy "beam". It not only plays a role in enhancing the rigidity of the body, but also is a pneumatic cylinder! A pneumatic cylinder that stores air for the air suspension spring!
"Super Manifold" is the control valve of Tesla's thermal management, where all the heat exchange pipelines are gathered, which can better manage and distribute heat to improve battery life, which is one of Tesla's core technologies, and now domestic independent brands are basically imitating it.
As a global model, the "high-voltage interlock" safety line is indispensable, if an accident occurs, cut it can be powered off by the whole car, convenient rescue, and there are not many independent brand new energy vehicles with this device.
Front impact beam
Aluminum alloy
Removing the front bumper of this car, there is an aluminum alloy front impact beam inside, complete with pedestrian protection foam with air pressure pipes. Compared with the previous generation of the Model S, the previous generation model is still a steel plate impact beam.
The cross-section of the aluminum alloy front impact beam is a zigzag structure, with a thickness of 4.45 mm, which can cover 79.17% of the front of the car, which is very wide.
There are no ultrasonic radar sensors on the bars, and the parking assistance is all based on the camera's vision solution.
The radiator opening is small and equipped with an active air intake grille.
Like other Tesla models, the radiator is placed at a 45-degree angle. However, this Plaid version of the model has added an extra heat sink, mainly to help the motor, electronic control, and battery better heat dissipation at ultra-high speeds.
The aluminium alloy secondary impact beam is also new, which was not available in the previous model.
Unlike the previous Tesla, this car is equipped with a new 4D millimeter-wave radar, the Phoenix 4D millimeter-wave radar from the Israeli company Arbe.
The millimeter-wave radar we usually see is actually 3D radar, which determines the far, near and angular position by sending and receiving radio frequency signals. If it is placed in the Cartesian coordinate system, 3D radar can only provide data on the X-axis, Y-axis and theta angle, so it is called "3D". There is no Z-axis, that is, altitude information, in this coordinate system, after all, our world is three-dimensional. The 4D millimeter-wave radar actually adds an elevation angle to determine the altitude information.
At present, according to the number of 4D millimeter-wave radar cascade chips, the cost control is selected, and the two-chip cascade can be selected; if you choose the cost performance, you will choose the four-chip cascade in most cases; if you choose ultra-high performance, there are eight chips to choose from, but the price is extremely expensive. This Model S uses a relatively inexpensive two-chip cascade scheme. At present, there are many 4D radar suppliers, such as Continental, ZF, Huawei, HASCO, Hesai, etc.
There is an electric heating wire inside the bar, which is just the position of the 4D millimeter-wave radar, which is used to prevent ice and snow on the front bar, which affects the radar work.
Except for the 4D millimeter-wave radar, the other three radars are ordinary 3D millimeter-wave radars.
The front energy-absorbing box is an ordinary stamped steel plate, not made of aluminum alloy.
Rear impact beam
Single-layer stamped steel plate
Like the previous Model S, the rear impact beam is still a single-layer stamped steel plate with a thickness of only 1.80 mm, covering 73.85% of the rear of the car.
And there is still no rear energy-absorbing box, and the anti-collision beam is directly connected with bolts to the body.
The rear impact beam protrudes from the trunk lid and can play a certain protective role.
Crash test
The new Tesla Model S has been crash tested in both the European E-NCAP and the US IIHS. The European E-NCAP crash score is good, and it has received a five-star praise. The lighting score of the IIHS in the United States is relatively low, and only "P" is obtained.
summary
It is worth learning from independent brands
The front impact beam of the new Tesla Model S has been upgraded to aluminum alloy, and the rear impact beam is still stamped steel. The thermal management system maintains a high level of integration, and the inflatable bottle that acts as a structural reinforcement is also a very ingenious design, which is worth learning from domestic manufacturers. In addition, this car boldly uses 4D millimeter-wave radar, and does not use expensive lidar. If you think of 3D millimeter-wave radar as a pistol, lidar can be regarded as an automatic rifle, and 4D millimeter radar is a repeating pistol with a fast rate of fire. Therefore, Tesla's "cost reduction and efficiency increase" is not a simple subtraction, but through technology research and development, to achieve the effect of reducing costs and improving performance, which is very worthy of our own brands to learn.
So what about the chassis of this car? Please stay tuned for the follow-up dismantling. (The conclusion of the measurement data in this article and video is only responsible for the vehicle, and the measurement data is responsible for the published experimental method.) ）
2023 Tesla Model S crash beam score