Tesla Model 3 Torn Down, Hacked and Set On a Dynamometer, Exposing Unusual Tech Details (electrek.co)

Rei writes: With an estimated 8,670 Model 3s delivered, a race is on as competitors and owners work to figure out its limits and explore the tech behind it. Many-time Tesla teardown expert "Ingineerix" has posted a series of videos and discussed his findings on Reddit. Among them: what appears to be the industry's first switched reluctance motor, a massive "smuggling compartment" allocated for a future front-wheel motor, no physical fuses (all solid-state), significant wiring harness length reductions via the use of multiple body controllers, a swappable crash energy absorption system, a liquid-cooled compute unit, and redundant controllers for all safety-related systems. He followed up by posting a screenshot of the car tricked into "factory mode" to reveal its internal specs, including a 1200A max discharge current, 370kW max discharge power, and a 76 kWh pack with 72,5kWh usable. Meanwhile, Munro and Associates tore down a Model 3 for an undisclosed, "not Tesla" client, releasing a video criticizing its build quality and for difficulty in accessing the HV cables in the event of an accident (Munroe's claims were dismissed by Ingineerix). Meanwhile, engineers from German automakers were extremely impressed by what they found during their teardown -- particularly the power electronics system, which they described as "compact, expandable, fully integrated, modular, easily accessible, well-protected, reasonably priced and astonishingly clever in many details." Other owners have been putting their cars on dynamometers to measure their power. Drag Times suffered some skid and measured a conflicting 281 / 327.6 hp with 552 lb-ft torque. Contrarily, Tesla Repair Channel found consistent readings around 250hp when starting from 30mph, but consistently around 390 hp when starting from 10mph. The reason for the discrepancy is not yet clear.

Comments

Re:One thing Musk seems really good at is hiring

[DRJlaw]

SpaceX is even more amazing in terms of tech, getting stuff working like vertical landings that seemed like it was going to remain as science fiction, while also seeming to be very reliable tech as far as the rocket industry goes which is its own feat (even in modern times you still see rockets exploding on launch).

Tesla isn't the first... shooting rockets into LEO (*gasp* that was 61 years ago).

Nothing "generalized" about it.

Sure - changing vertically landing a rocket from 200 km into shooting rockets into LEO isn't an overgeneralization at all. Never mind that the booster is never in an orbit.

Re:Nurburgring fiasco.

[FrankSchwab]

>>> meaningless until Tesla cars can lap the world standard Nurburgring Circuit at speed.
Can't remember the last time I did that.

>>> what about towing a two-axle mobile stable with two horses in it, steep uphill?
I'm pretty sure that the bog-standard BMW 3-series wouldn't be particularly happy about that task either. I'm not quite sure where you'd mount the 5th-wheel hitch, either. That's why there are heavy-duty pickup trucks in the world. I guess we can revisit your challenge once the Tesla Semi is hauling 80,000 pounds around the US.

Is there a reason that you believe a mid-sized sedan should both lap the Nurburgring at speed, and pull a horse trailer?