Does this car live up to the expectations? The interior looks plain. Like from the early 2000's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6VqldjTT8
Well not if you ordered one and expected it to be delivered!!!!!!
It's a pretty good car if you find the interior acceptable, some people hate the lack of buttons, most people don't care. It's no doubt the best electric car for it's price. Delivery times are still extremely long though as Tesla are ramping up production. In the UK maybe I will get mine somewhere between the middle and the end of next year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkRMkKqOUSs
you definitely won't live up to the date it finally starts getting delivered
Being a body mechanic I can't help but hate it for the stupid designs when it comes to crash and fire safety. Mainly those stickers in the front and rear trunk telling firefighters where to cut.
This video describes it pretty well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIo8e12sBM
That's just a way for them to disable all the high voltage stuff. They can either cut the loop in the front, or the back to disable it. It's going to be one of the safest cars to have a crash in, the crumple zone is pretty huge.
Yes I understand that.
Thing is though that when the car has been crashed, they want to start stabilizing and getting the patients out as soon as possible as safely as possible. They shouldn't have to search around for instructions on how to disable the electronics. In Toyota hybrids for example you have a huge orange plug the size of a fist in the back that you rip out to disconnect the battery pack. In Tesla you have to know where to cut and how deep. Any person can disable the Toyota batteries, but only people with a huge cutting disk or claw can disable them in the Tesla. In the Toyotas, they are always in the same place so that's the only thing you'll have to know as a firefighter or whatever.
What if the Tesla is surrounded by and full of smoke or fire? What if the stickers are destroyed from the crash? What if you can't open the front or rear trunk to reveal them in the first place? You'd have to force them open with other tools just to read some instructions. That's not time well spent in an emergency. What if the firefighters don't know about the stickers? What if the owner simply removes them?
The crumple zone being pretty huge is kind of the issue. It means it doesn't take that much force to fuck up the stickers so they're unreadable.
I think first responders usually just cut things open anyway rather than messing about trying to find a way to open it. The sticker doesn't really matter if the loop is obvious, which it should be. It's the only bright orange wire visible in that area. I don't know if the Toyota system is any better if you don't know what to look for anyway. On my Leaf it's just check the dashboard and make sure it's off, no way to manually disable it from the outside, which is basically the same as the Tesla if you don't cut the loop.
Yes again, you have to know about where to look. They probably have their courses on different types of cars and if Tesla keeps the same basic locations for those safety things in all the cars liek Toyota then it shouldn't be a big problem.
Also the Toyota system is better for me as a body mechanic because I can simply cut off the main power with that plug if I need to weld anything on the car. I don't know what you'd have to do on a Tesla
If you just need to disconnect power just disconnect the 12v battery. HV system can't engage without 12v power.
The loops are the same now on all 3 cars.
tesla also publishes the first responder guide with "cut here lines"
I don’t know how I’d feel about having to hope the fireman cutting me out of my Tesla remembered his homework.
If you're in an accident that sets off the airbags, a pyro fuse fires and the HV battery is automatically isolated. The cut loop is a backup.
If somehow the front end crumples to the point you cannot access the cut loop, the 12v battery is a few inches forward of it and has likely been destroyed. This will automatically de-energize the HV battery main contactor, isolating it.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/58068/713595bb-7ed9-48ac-9837-bd764227d569/Want-to-know-what-it-really-looks-like-under-the-hood-Imgur.jpg
Above: Model S without the frunk liner installed, the 12v battery is in the center next to the coolant bottle, cut loop can be seen in the top left.
The battery in the Model 3 is up against the windshield so will probably survive the front end completely crumpling. However, there is a secondary cut loop in the rear of the car, up near the rear door window.
If they have no idea what they are doing and just start cutting they will probably be fine.
I think as we see more EVs released, car manufacturers will look into standardizing first responder isolation systems/procedures. For now, it seems everyone has a different way of doing it:
BMW i3 - Automatically isolates HV battery after accident. No way to manually isolate HV battery. (On a side note, BMW's first responder's guide reads like they're trying to sell them to first responders...)
Nissan Leaf - Automatically isolates HV battery after accident. HV battery can be manually isolated by removing 12v battery or pulling some fuses. Must wait several minutes for capacitors to discharge.
Chevy Bolt - Unknown if HV battery automatically isolated, but it probably is. First responder's guide states that the car MUST be turned off and a cut loop under the hood MUST be cut to isolate the HV battery.
That's not gonna cut it for welding. Strong electricity can jump. I probably won't get a Tesla to do any welding on like ever, but still.
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