Powered By Lithium: The Tesla Model S Just Got The Best Safety Rating Of Any Car In History

  

  Business Insider reports on another milestone for Electric Cars - Elon Musk is ahead of the game in the safety standards as well.

Tesla Model S Quality Testing: 5 Hours Of Indoor Inspection

  "Tesla Model S is made to meet the very rigorous standards set up by Elon Musk, his aim is to build not only the best Electric Car on the market, but the Best Car. Tesla Model S has received the highest rating in crash tests and its lithium battery technology is tested now by the million miles driven in the real road conditions. 

  Supply chain for Electric Cars will get more attention from investors with the ongoing success of Tesla electric cars and Lithium will gain its respect again as the strategic commodity for the electric revolution."

Powered By Lithium: Renault Nissan Sells Its 100,000th Electric Car LIT, RM.v, ILC.v, TNR.v

  "Electric Cars are not toys any more and they are here to stay. Tesla is beating up Mercedes, BMW and Audi in the luxury sector sales in U.S. this year and Nissan puts more and more electric cars on the roads.

  After initial surge in 2009 of everything related to Lithium the market has cooled off and now there is another interesting opportunity to step up and pick up the best players in the supply chain of strategic commodities for electric revolution.

  Chinese and Japanese companies are in the front row of this new trend and accumulating the stakes in lithium developers with valuable projects in the pipeline."

Business Insider:

The Tesla Model S Just Got The Best Safety Rating Of Any Car In History

Here's another extraordinary accomplishment by Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk.

The electric car company announced yesterday evening that its famous 'Model S' sedan has achieved the best safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of any car that's ever been tested in history.

The company says it received 5 stars in every possible category (something that's awarded to just 1% of cars) and that the Model S set a new record for lowest likelihood of passenger injury.

Here's the full press release from Tesla:

Tesla Model S Achieves Best Safety Rating of Any Car Ever Tested

Sets New NHTSA Vehicle Safety Score Record

Monday, August 19, 2013

Palo Alto, CA — Independent testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has awarded the Tesla Model S a 5-star safety rating, not just overall, but in every subcategory without exception. Approximately one percent of all cars tested by the federal government achieve 5 stars across the board. NHTSA does not publish a star rating above 5, however safety levels better than 5 stars are captured in the overall Vehicle Safety Score (VSS) provided to manufacturers, where the Model S achieved a new combined record of 5.4 stars.

Of all vehicles tested, including every major make and model approved for sale in the United States, the Model S set a new record for the lowest likelihood of injury to occupants. While the Model S is a sedan, it also exceeded the safety score of all SUVs and minivans. This score takes into account the probability of injury from front, side, rear and rollover accidents.

The Model S has the advantage in the front of not having a large gasoline engine block, thus creating a much longer crumple zone to absorb a high speed impact. This is fundamentally a force over distance problem – the longer the crumple zone, the more time there is to slow down occupants at g loads that do not cause injuries. Just like jumping into a pool of water from a tall height, it is better to have the pool be deep and not contain rocks. The Model S motor is only about a foot in diameter and is mounted close to the rear axle, and the front section that would normally contain a gasoline engine is used for a second trunk.

For the side pole intrusion test, considered one of the most difficult to pass, the Model S was the only car in the "good" category among the other top one percent of vehicles tested. Compared to the Volvo S60, which is also 5-star rated in all categories, the Model S preserved 63.5 percent of driver residual space vs. 7.8 percent for the Volvo. Tesla achieved this outcome by nesting multiple deep aluminum extrusions in the side rail of the car that absorb the impact energy (a similar approach was used by the Apollo Lunar Lander) and transfer load to the rest of the vehicle. This causes the pole to be either sheared off or to stop the car before the pole hits an occupant.

The rear crash testing was particularly important, given the optional third row children's seat. For this, Tesla factory installs a double bumper if the third row seat is ordered. This was needed in order to protect against a highway speed impact in the rear with no permanently disabling injury to the third row occupants. The third row is already the safest location in the car for frontal or side injuries.

The Model S was also substantially better in rollover risk, with the other top vehicles being approximately 50 percent worse. During testing at an independent facility, the Model S refused to turn over via the normal methods and special means were needed to induce the car to roll. The reason for such a good outcome is that the battery pack is mounted below the floor pan, providing a very low center of gravity, which simultaneously ensures exceptional handling and safety.

Of note, during validation of Model S roof crush protection at an independent commercial facility, the testing machine failed at just above 4 g's. While the exact number is uncertain due to Model S breaking the testing machine, what this means is that at least four additional fully loaded Model S vehicles could be placed on top of an owner's car without the roof caving in. This is achieved primarily through a center (B) pillar reinforcement attached via aerospace grade bolts.

The above results do not tell the full story. It is possible to game the regulatory testing score to some degree by strengthening a car at the exact locations used by the regulatory testing machines. After verifying through internal testing that the Model S would achieve a NHTSA 5-star rating, Tesla then analyzed the Model S to determine the weakest points in the car and retested at those locations until the car achieved 5 stars no matter how the test equipment was configured.

The Model S lithium-ion battery did not catch fire at any time before, during or after the NHTSA testing. It is worth mentioning that no production Tesla lithium-ion battery has ever caught fire in the Model S or Roadster, despite several high speed impacts. While this is statistically unlikely to remain the case long term, Tesla is unaware of any Model S or Roadster occupant fatalities in any car ever.

The graphic below shows the statistical Relative Risk Score (RSS) of Model S compared with all other vehicles tested against the exceptionally difficult NHTSA 2011 standards. In 2011, the standards were revised upward to make it more difficult to achieve a high safety rating.