Tesla Model 3 Achieves NHTSA's 'Lowest Probability' of Injury Ever (thedrive.com)

In a blog post on Monday, Tesla said that the Model 3 has been deemed to have the lowest probability of occupant injury than any vehicle ever tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The Drive reports: Since 1979, the regulatory body has implemented the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) which, through a series of tests, ultimately produces a rating for a new-to-market vehicle based on how well it performs in a variety of safety-related tests. Over time the test has evolved to assess the injury to occupants based on data gathered for front, side, and rollover crashes. During the NHTSA's previous tests of Tesla vehicles, the Model S and Model X, respectively, became the two vehicles with the lowest probability for injury, outpacing all other automakers. The Model 3 has now widened that gap as it takes the new number-one position on the leaderboard for the safest overall vehicle for occupants.

The California-based auto manufacturer acknowledges the car's low center of gravity as a major factor in its gracious performance in rollover tests. Similar to The Model 3 places its heaviest component, the battery pack, into the floor, so this helps improve the overall stability and rigidity of the car, making it perform excellently in rollover crashes. Additionally, the automaker gives a subtle nod to its engineering team for their design of the vehicle's crumple zones. Working in conjunction with airbags placed in the front of the vehicle and at the occupant's knees, the Model 3 was able to safely control the deceleration of passengers in frontal crash tests. The NHTSA's assessment involved the Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive variant, however, Tesla states that it believes other trims will receive similar results when tested.

Comments

Does it measure driver attentiveness?

[AmiMoJo]

Having many controls that would be buttons in most cars on the touch screen is going to be a distraction for drivers. Even stuff like the headlight controls and windscreen wiper settings are on the screen, meaning you have to glance aside and hit a touch target with no tactile feedback.

What do the accident stats say? Do we have per-model data on at-fault crashes?

Re:Does it measure driver attentiveness?

[Rei]

Turning on and off the headlights manually? Lol. And where's the handcrank for the engine too, right? ;) At least autowipers aren't perfect and occasionally people want to override them (in the Model 3, single swipes and cleaning can be done with the left stalk, this also and automatically brings up the general wiper control menu just to the side of your right hand). But why do you think everyone should be turning their headlights on and off by hand?

I don't get this desire for "busywork" when driving. Another busywork example I don't get: having to "start" the car. If the car has already authenticated you, why make the driver go through an added step of pressing a button or whatnot?

As for "glancing aside", a quick test for you. Put your hands on your keyboard. Keep your focus straight ahead, not at the keyboard. Now lift your hands up so that your hands have to actually move to touch a key (go with, say, 2 finger lengths away). Now - still without looking at the keyboard - picture half a dozen random letters and try to type them, with your hands returning fully to that elevated position each time. How well did that go? If you're like a normal human being, the answer is "very poorly". You probably had better success with larger buttons (space, enter), but not with smaller ones. Now put your hands back down in a normal typing resting position (aka, touching the same solid surface as the keyboard) and try again. Trivial to type without looking, right?

The simple fact is, we can control things in immediate reach of our hands from a fixed reference frame without looking, but when it comes to trying to control "button sized things" that we have to move our hands to reach, it's far harder. Which is why we look. You may believe that you do it without looking in your car, but for most tasks, you don't - start paying attention to yourself when you drive. You look because it's much faster and more accurate to do so.

Another test. Picture an area about 2 1/2 centimeters / 1 inch square somewhere on the edge of your screen (it helps to have a fullscreen graphic up). Let's even forget about keeping your hands two finger lengths away! Look somewhat the side of your screen so that portion of your screen is in your peripheral. Now try to press that point on the screen. Do this several times. You probably did better than you expected to - simply because that's such a large virtual "button" you were trying to press. Give yourself even a brief glance at your screen and your accuracy will be almost perfect (again, due to button size). However, trying to hit "buttons" toward the centre of the screen, you'll find you have much worse accuracy than on the edges. If you were being bounced around, the centre would be all the worse, even with such a large button size.

So what's the strategic takeaway from this, in terms of keeping people's attention on the road?

1) Automate everything you can, so that there's no need to fiddle in the first place.

2) Tie all settings you can into driver profiles, so there's no need for basic adjustments, only the things that vary on a ride.

3) Put all frequent interactions on the steering wheel. Change track, change station, change volume, mute, pause, change cruise control speed, change follow distance, voice commands, etc.

4) Put all "semi-frequent" interactions as close to the wheel as possible, as close to something your hands can physically touch as possible, with as large of a button as possible. Example: against the left or bottom edges of a screen (screen edge acts as a guideline for your hand), with buttons 2 1/2 centimeters / 1 inch square, so that they're very difficult to actually miss.

5) Put infrequently used / only used when stopped functionality in menus. Make any displays as large as possible so "always on" things such as nav or cameras can be seen easily in your peripheral and so that they're easy to interact with.

This is, in a nutshell, Tesla's design philosophy.

As for Tes

Re:Does it measure driver attentiveness?

[ThosLives]

Removing responsibility for driving functions comes with the cost of lost freedom of the driving functions. You are now at the mercy of those who decided how things should function, rather than your own choices.

It doesn't even matter if the automatic choices are statistically better (e.g., lower crash rates, more efficient driving, etc.); they still impose a loss of freedom.

Which is better - safer but less free, or more free but less safe? I suppose society at large will make an aggregate decision there, but I'm guessing it will be an emergent choice rather than an informed one.

As an aside - those crash statistics aren't really comparable because there is inherent selection bias among the drivers. The driver population of Teslas is likely to be a lower-risk population than other vehicles in the first place. You also have to factor in that you're comparing a small number of vehicle models against all other vehicle models. What happens if you compare against other brands individually? Try this report for instance - there are 9 non-Teslas out there with zero deaths per million passenger miles (and several others with more than 100!). Interestingly it is "economy" cars that have higher rates than expensive cars - which supports my theory that the demographic is likely an important factor, not just the vehicle.

Re:Does it measure driver attentiveness?

[AmiMoJo]

Turning on and off the headlights manually?

The auto lights aren't perfect, on any car. It's not just a simple on/off with light level detection, it's the high/dipped beams.

I don't get this desire for "busywork" when driving. Another busywork example I don't get: having to "start" the car. If the car has already authenticated you, why make the driver go through an added step of pressing a button or whatnot?

Well in Tesla's case it's because the door locks are not very secure so they had to add a PIN to start the car as a second layer of defence. The less snarky answer is so that you can sit in the driver's seat with no possibility of accidentally moving the car due to stuff like mode confusion.

As for "glancing aside", a quick test for you. ...
Trivial to type without looking, right?

Most keyboards have little ridges on the F and J keys so that you can locate your fingers correctly without looking, and then touch type. Similarly my car radio has a little nub on one of the channel favourite buttons. I never need to look at either.

But that's only half the problem with touch screens. With buttons you can locate them by feel, and they require a moderate amount of pressure to press down so you can run your fingers over them, use them for a bit of support as the car bounces around etc. Try operating your phone when it is held in a mount and you are in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle, it's not easy. You really need to cup the phone in your fingers to steady both your hand and the display and then carefully hit large touch points. Stuff like swiping is doubly hard. And the Model 3 touch screen is 15" diagonal so you all the touch points need to be near the edges to give you something to grip.

The same design constraints are evident in things like Android Auto.

Put all frequent interactions on the steering wheel. Change track, change station, change volume, mute, pause, change cruise control speed, change follow distance, voice commands, etc.

That's a pretty complex set of steering wheel controls. And what about climate control? Tesla doesn't even have an auto-demist function.

Re:Does it measure driver attentiveness?

[Type44Q]

This is the first "pro Tesla" bit you've written that I don't disagree with, so that's definitely saying something. Your conclusions reveal that you've spent a lot more time thinking about driving that actually doing so; if you were a "driver among drivers," you'd instinctively know that headlight controls (among other things) should never be relegated to the touch screen.

The chance that I'll get injured in a Model 3 is 0

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm poor.

Re:Shorters

[Rei]

Tesla lives and dies on Musk's cult of personality

No. Tesla lives and dies off its fundamentals. And those fundamentals are the 4th highest selling car in the US by volume, highest by revenue, highest selling car (by volume and revenue) by a US manufacturer, overwhelmingly positive reviews, top notch safety, and margin expected to be already up to about 15% (and growing) this quarter, production rates growing faster than Panasonic can keep up with cells, with ample reservations (Tesla hasn't even opened sales to most of its global market), SR not being available yet, non-PUP not being available yet, air suspension not being available yet, tow package not available yet, leases (how most people acquire cars) not available yet, only one model year old (most people prefer to wait for at least 2-3 years old) and surrounded by FUD, sparse store network, no advertising budget, and about a dozen things.

Tesla's fundamentals are rocking.

There's this common notion that Tesla has a "Musk premium". Quick question: whenever you hear TSLA bulls talking about Tesla, are they predominantly talking about how awesome Musk is? No, of course not; they're talking about how awesome the company and its products are. Tesla's value is as high as it is because TSLA bulls love its fundamentals, and these fundamentals exist with or without Musk. Contrary to this popular belief, Musk is generally a drain on Tesla's stock price, because he's such a polarizing figure who's always saying polarizing things. We like having him at the helm because we like his aggressive moat-bridging strategies, but he is not a boost to the stock price. Wall Street would love it if he packed his bags and moved to Mars and left JB in charge of the company (yes, there would be a short term freakout, as always happens when there's change and uncertainty, but then the story would go back to the fundamentals - without the distractions of random tweets)

Re:Shorters

[JaredOfEuropa]

The demand for Tesla vehicles is not going to be an issue for the foreseeable future. The "fundamental" issues are supply (can they source or manufacture enough batteries, something many EV makers struggle with), and manufacturing (can they make these cars fast enough, reliably, without running at a loss). At a glance, the answer to those questions would seem to be Yes, and that hasn't changed. What has changed is Musk tweeting some rubbish and going one toke over the line, no fundamental stuff.

The big worry, as GP pointed out, is Tesla's current debt structure and cash flow. Not necessarily an issue if your stockholders have an unwavering trust in the company and the way it's being run, but Musk seems to be doing everything in his power to shake that trust.

Re:Shorters

[Joce640k]

Tesla is eventually going to run out of rich people to sell their vanity EV to.

Sure, just like Apple ran out of people to sell their vanity phones and laptops to!

Re: Shorters

[c6gunner]

Another person out of touch with reality. What Tesla is $40k?

The Model 3. But we've already established that you're a liar, so I don't expect you to acknowledge that fact. No, in your world every Tesla costs 50 bazillion dollars.

You guys need to get out an travel and see the world. The vast majority of the planet lives in poverty.

I'm actually posting from a third world country at the moment.

You guys sit in your office jobs and think everyone can just go out and buy a $65,000+ car

Nah, we just aren't retarded enough to believe that only 700,000 people can afford to do so.

Re:Shorters

[WindBourne]

Yes, yes, yes.
Musk has broken YOUR ideas of "fundamentals". However, your idea is based on short-term profits.
Musk, and Rei's, along with others such as myself, is based on GROWTH and getting the company to be able to add a factory and have its lines up to maximum production in under 6 months. M3, like MS/MX, has relatively low production costs (compared to other companies), and all of the money is going into R&D (hignest % in the industry; most are around 3-5%; Tesla is something like 20%) as well as building out a massive EV charging system (way ahead of anything else). However, yes, if has been failing your GAAP for short-term profits. But, I will guess that the bleeding stops by end of year.
So, yeah, Rei is right that Musk has the fundamentals down. Oddly, prior to 1980, Musk would be held in the highest accolades in America. Now, we have nothing but multiple monopolistic companies, a bought political party (the GOP), and a large number of trolls that run around denigrating the man and his companies.

Re:Shorters

[MachineShedFred]

They've sold every single Model 3 coming out of the factory for a year and they haven't even covered the demand from two countries.

The premise of your statement is incorrect, as well as the statement itself being incorrect. Your premise states that one must be "rich" to buy a Tesla, yet it's the 3rd highest selling sedan in the US right now. Does that mean that everyone in the US that is buying a car is "rich"? Or are you playing the game where you say that they're all rich because you are comparing their income in a post-industrial nation with a pre-industrial economy in a nation locked in civil war for 20 years 6,000 miles away?

Second, if they were "running out of rich people" in North America, they'd start loading cars onto boats destined for Europe. Or Asia. Which they aren't doing. Are you saying there aren't rich people in Europe and Asia, and that somehow all the rich people are in the US and Canada? Or that there aren't any boats available? Or that they can't figure out how to drive the trucks carrying them to a dock?

I know your thing is to troll people, but you really can do better than that.

Re: Shorters

[Joce640k]

You must be joking. Every Tesla generation is CHEAPER? Only the rich can afford a Tesla you dunce

Does that mean every generation of Tesla isn't cheaper? You lost me with your amazing logic.

Tesla Roadster: From $112,000
Tesla Model S: From $74,500
Tesla Model X: From $79,500
Tesla Model 3: From $49,000

Damn those pesky facts!

Re: Shorters

[rogoshen1]

Good thing random slashdot user is here to tell acura, lexus, bmw, audi, mercedes, land rover, aston martin, jaguar, lincoln, infiniti, porsche, ferrari, bugati, etc etc that the market for cars north of 35k USD is a losing proposition. He might just save the whole industry!