2 ms·
One way to make an electric car go efficiently fast and far is to make it light. Extreme effort is taken on Teslas to reduce weight, and part of that will inv
by londons_explore 3y ago
One way to make an electric car go efficiently fast and far is to make it light. Extreme effort is taken on Teslas to reduce weight, and part of that will involve making suspension and steering components only as strong as they need to be, but no stronger.
That strength is enough for most people - but there will always be some who hit a pothole at speed, slam into a kerb, jack the car up on the wrong point, or otherwise exert forces beyond the design limits.
Other cars would survive that because they are overengineered. Tesla's may not.
It's a tradeoff you make when you buy the vehicle - you get a faster and more efficient car, but have to be aware that it is more fragile. If you wanted something robust, you could have bought a tank.
- ceejayoz 3y agoTesla has historically been pretty quick to release "we looked at the telemetry and the driver did X Y and Z" when they think it absolves them. In a car only driven 115 miles before the suspension fell apart, it a) should take some pretty extreme driving to cause that in such a short time and b) be pretty obvious in the telemetry.
- AlexandrB 3y agoThis is quite the "take". But it's also directly contradicted by how Tesla designed the Cybertruck: with thick stainless steel body panels that weigh a ton compared to typical body panels used in cars. This was justified/marketed with the claim that these are bullet-proof - something that is far less relevant to the average driver than hitting a pothole or a curb. So is the Cybertruck the exception to Tesla's design philosophy for some reason?