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Look. I will never own or consider a Tesla given what i've seen, and will happily take them to task. But i think this is a bit far. It's pretty common in ICE

Look. I will never own or consider a Tesla given what i've seen, and will happily take them to task. But i think this is a bit far. It's pretty common in ICE vehicles for the oil pan to be easily damaged by road debris, and the oil it spills is more toxic than coolant. In particular, the Tesla's use glycol for cooling, which is not that bad to spill (certainly better than most oils). So while certainly not better than the status quo from a design perspective, it also doesn't seem worse than most vehicles in this respect.

cartoonworld 5y ago
I just took a close look at a new model 3. I identified how the damage occurred in about 5 seconds. The coolant line runs right next to the rear sway bar and is visible from outside the vehicle. There is a basic plastic gaurd plate along the entire rear undercarriage. This 2020 model 3 has missing plastic body clip rivets in the area that is supposed to protect the cooling lines. I was able to easy move the panel exposing the entire line on both sides. A stick could easily get bound up in the wheel and whip right under it.
cartoonworld 5y ago
Man, that reminds me of the time I cracked an oil pan in my old MB 190e. I was going to a trail head for a planned hike, and the vehicle markings were....ambiguous. I followed some tracks between two trees, but a wheel dropped into a pothole in the dirt, bottoming out right over a big ass rock which nicked the side of the pan, cracking it wide open. It can and does happen. Oil pans are metal and can usually handle a gopher or a 2-by-4. They are also usually guarded by a subframe to which the motor mounts attach. I don't know that Tesla uses glycol, which is pretty darn poisonous, I was under the impression it was HOAT, which is much less so, still not good, but who knows. I can see from the video there is a large plate that was supposed to shield this part, that the debris worked its way around, yanking on the poorly moored cooling line, cracking the coolant port. On consideration this looks a lot more like a fluke, so your point is well taken.
- maxerickson 5y ago
  HOAT is the additives, it's still ethylene glycol based. It's really more poisonous than it is toxic. A small amount will break down in a reasonable amount of time if released into the environment.
dev_tty01 5y ago
Yes. Don't forget that Chrysler sold a car where the water pump was at the highest point in the system. Slightly low coolant level, no more pumping, no more cooling, no more driving. Lots of manufacturers make a few cost-cutting, weight-saving, or whatever choices that ultimately harm durability.

cartoonworld 5y ago

I just took a close look at a new model 3. I identified how the damage occurred in about 5 seconds. The coolant line runs right next to the rear sway bar and is visible from outside the vehicle. There is a basic plastic gaurd plate along the entire rear undercarriage. This 2020 model 3 has missing plastic body clip rivets in the area that is supposed to protect the cooling lines. I was able to easy move the panel exposing the entire line on both sides. A stick could easily get bound up in the wheel and whip right under it.

cartoonworld 5y ago

Man, that reminds me of the time I cracked an oil pan in my old MB 190e. I was going to a trail head for a planned hike, and the vehicle markings were....ambiguous. I followed some tracks between two trees, but a wheel dropped into a pothole in the dirt, bottoming out right over a big ass rock which nicked the side of the pan, cracking it wide open. It can and does happen. Oil pans are metal and can usually handle a gopher or a 2-by-4. They are also usually guarded by a subframe to which the motor mounts attach. I don't know that Tesla uses glycol, which is pretty darn poisonous, I was under the impression it was HOAT, which is much less so, still not good, but who knows. I can see from the video there is a large plate that was supposed to shield this part, that the debris worked its way around, yanking on the poorly moored cooling line, cracking the coolant port. On consideration this looks a lot more like a fluke, so your point is well taken.

maxerickson 5y ago
HOAT is the additives, it's still ethylene glycol based. It's really more poisonous than it is toxic. A small amount will break down in a reasonable amount of time if released into the environment.

dev_tty01 5y ago

Yes. Don't forget that Chrysler sold a car where the water pump was at the highest point in the system. Slightly low coolant level, no more pumping, no more cooling, no more driving. Lots of manufacturers make a few cost-cutting, weight-saving, or whatever choices that ultimately harm durability.