2017 Tesla Model S Crash Test Overview
15The Tesla Model S was introduced in the 2012 model year. The car is a plug-in battery-electric vehicle with no gasoline or diesel engine to help power the car. The EPA city and highway values listed below are based on a comparison of the energy content of a kWh of electricity vs. a gallon of gasoline.
Beginning with 2016 models built after September 2016, the side curtain airbags were lengthened to improve occupant protection in small overlap frontal crashes. Later, beginning with 2017 models built after January 2017, the driver seat belt was modified with the intent of reducing driver forward movement in a frontal crash. (Information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on the driver door or adjacent B-pillar.)
Two tests of the Model S were conducted by the Institute on cars built before and after the driver seat belt modification. Because there were no structural changes, the structure rating is based on the tests of both cars, the first a 2016 model and the second a 2017 model.
The small overlap frontal rating of the Model S applies to the 75 and tested 60 variants, but does not apply to higher-performance variants, including the 100 and since-discontinued 90, which have larger batteries.
Structure
The driver space was maintained reasonably well in both tests considered together. Intrusion of the lower interior in the second test measured 28 cm at the lower hinge pillar and 22 cm at the footrest because the left front wheel shattered during the crash, and the brake rotor and caliper assembly split the hinge pillar and penetrated the occupant compartment. Upper interior intrusion measured 2 cm at the hinge pillar and 9-12 cm at the instrument panel. In addition, the left front corner of the high voltage battery case (behind the wheel housing) was damaged by the barrier face in the second test, but the deformation was limited to an area that does not house battery cells.
Injury measures
In the second test, a high head acceleration occurred when the dummy's head hit the steering wheel through the airbag, indicating that head injuries would be possible in a crash of this severity. A similar high head acceleration occurred in the first test. Measures indicate that injuries to the left lower leg also would be possible in the second test. (In the first test, it was the right lower leg that was problematic.)
Restraints and dummy kinematics
In the second test, the dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but started to move off the left side because the seat belt allowed excessive forward excursion of the head and torso. The side curtain airbag deployed and has sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects. The side torso airbag also deployed. Dummy head movement and airbag interaction was similar in the first test.
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