Tesla Model 3 Earns Five-Star Crash Safety Rating From NHTSA (jalopnik.com)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has awarded the Tesla Model 3 with a five-star safety rating -- the highest possible score. This means that every car Tesla has built has earned a five-star rating. Jalopnik reports: The NHTSA tests cover three primary categories: Frontal Crash, Side Crash, and Rollover, and the Model 3 received the highest ratings in all categories. For some categories, it's easy to understand why Teslas do so well. Rollover resistance, for example, makes sense for cars that carry most of their weight at the very bottom, in the batteries sandwiched in the Tesla's chassis design. Other reasons for the remarkable crash safety may be that, without the need for a heavy chunk of metal as a drivetrain, effective and large crumple zones can be designed in, front and rear. The NHTSA has released videos of their frontal collision test, side pole collision test, and side collision test, for those who like watching these sort of things.

Comments

Re:Any people wonder why the model 3 is hot

[LynnwoodRooster]

Hey, when you sell cars below cost (essentially giving them away), you can move a lot of cars! Now, add in the $17,600 that Tesla loses on each vehicle ($717 million loss last quarter to ship 40,740 cars) and the $7500 the Government gives you to buy one, and you end up with the mythical $35K and up car actually costing $60K.

I guess if you want shareholders/investors/rubes and the taxpayer/fellow-citizens to pay nearly half the cost of your car, then go for it! But Tesla has only a few quarters left before they have to start charging more, and their Government subsidies go away, and the car starts costing consumers $60,000 or more. We'll see what happens to deliveries then, as the real car manufacturers start rolling into the market in volume.