Tesla's Inherent Safety Saves Five Joyriding Teenagers In Germany (arstechnica.com)

According to German newspaper Merkur, one 18-year old and four of her friends lost control of her father's Model S electric vehicle. The car reportedly flew more than 80 feet into a field before it came to a stop. Even though the driver and two of the passengers were airlifted to hospitals, none of their injuries were life-threatening, thanks largely in part to Tesla's skateboard chassis. Ars Technica writes, "The skateboard chassis used by the Model S and Model X is extremely safe, with crumple zones that are unconcerned with engines that can transfer kinetic energy into the passengers during a frontal collision." The images of the crash are not pretty, but one could imagine how much worse they would be if a front-engined internal combustion vehicle were involved instead of the Tesla Model S.

Comments

Sales type 4: talk to the customer's fears

[Anonymous Coward]

The car is as safe as any other modern car.

Re:Sales type 4: talk to the customer's fears

[Anonymous Coward]

... as well as people who encounter bad drivers.

So what?

[fozzy1015]

Plenty of cars in that price range have "inherent safety" and would protect its occupants in a similar accident, even though they run on an internal combustion engine.

Re:So what?

[Harlequin80]

Never in a month of sundays did that car roll. If it rolled then Tesla needs to start selling their paint products as a magical no mud sticks and can't be scratched. It has impacted something at the front and then it had bounced a few times through the dirt.

The tesla is a great car but it isn't magical.

http://www.autoevolution.com/n...

Re:So what?

[Luthair]

Undeniable based on what? Previous marketing / cheer-leading articles?

Advertising Feature

[Harold Halloway]

This advertainment informercial has been brought to you by Tesla; saving kittens the world over.

Re:Why does anyone read Slashdot anymore?

[Maritz]

If you fuck off, it'll be marginally more worth reading.

It's hard to see how the conclusion is supported

[DrXym]

All vehicles in Europe receive an NCAP rating as part of their certification. This rating is based on the safety features and survivability for adult and child occupants as well as pedestrians from collisions. The Tesla has a very respectable score as can be seen here. It's certainly a very safe car but it is not outstanding compared to petrol vehicles. E.g. most of the 2014 best in class petrol vehicles had similar or better scores.

So saying it is "inherently safe" or that a petrol vehicle would fare worse is pretty absurd. Inherently safe cars don't plant themselves 25m into fields in the first place regardless of their form of propulsion. And that's without even knowing what caused the accident in the first place.

Re:Why does anyone read Slashdot anymore?

[Anonymous Coward]

He raises a good point though. They might as well rename this place ElonDot, or SlashMusk.

Re: Why does anyone read Slashdot anymore?

[Type44Q]

Fine with me; he's the closest thing to an idol we've got and for good reason.

Re:Tesla pollute more than regular gasoline cars

[haruchai]

"However, due to the increased weight of electric vehiclese, they are subject to more tyre wear and they cause more road wear"
I can't recall anyone making much fuss over the many, many, many F-150s, other trucks & SUVs that have been causing excessive tyre & road wear since the 80s, or acknowledging that 18-wheelers & buses should bear the burden of paying for most of the road repair since they cause, by far, most of the damage.