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I think you are slightly unfair to the Bolt. Its battery is mainly in a skateboard like Teslas with some also under the rear seat [0]. So unless they really mes

I think you are slightly unfair to the Bolt. Its battery is mainly in a skateboard like Teslas with some also under the rear seat [0]. So unless they really messed up the structure it should have the same advantages as the Tesla battery location. That said, the front compartment is a big messy jumble of boxy components. This may not impact(!) safety much, but does show how far GM is from the level of integration Tesla attains. [0] http://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-powertrain-drive-unit-and-battery-008.jpg http://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/2017-chevrole...

hwillis 8y ago
Nah, the Bolt battery isn't nearly as structural. It increases chassis stiffness but has a low impact on safety. The reason is it's essentially hanging off chassis rails- Tesla batteries basically join to the chassis to form one big box. The bolt battery also has no internal ribs, just a couple pretensioning bolts (to prevent vibration). It's only slightly stronger than a gas tank in an impact. Tesla batteries have huge internal ribs/separators that make the battery very resistant to deformation and intrusion in an impact. The Tesla battery is also about 10% wider, which makes a HUGE difference. A side impact in the Bolt will be through your leg before it hits the battery. In the Tesla the battery will be hit around the same time you are, making it an extremely integrated part of the safety cell. Its much more complex to build this way, since theres no undercarriage to route things through.