Tesla's Model S fails to ace some tests in IIHS evaluation | Hacker News Reader

Tesla's Model S fails to ace some tests in IIHS evaluation

ca.reuters.com

18 pointspulse723 comments

Model S "only" gets second highest rating in a single test.

The headline is not only wrong (it aced all but one test, so didn't fall to ace "some tests"), but seems designed to make it sound much worse than the report actually suggests.

It's mainly part of a campaign against EV, so here, even wording is carefully chosen to bring this sentiment.

Not really surprised by some recent news on those subject.

Tesla has repeatedly boasted that the Model S is the "safest car ever made". It has been a focal point of their marketing for some time. So when there's evidence to the contrary it makes for great headlines- I wouldn't call it a campaign against EVs in general.

Is there another car that aces all the tests?

Edit found a bit more info here http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/in-the-best-light-...

In the Euro NCAP ratings the Model S seems to do well (5 stars) but there are a fair number of cars that do even better.

https://www.euroncap.com/en

Mercedes E-Class

You can read the IIHS's own release here:

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/three-large-cars-j...

The Reuters summary omits some details but is more neutral. The headline is neither wrong nor designed to make the report sound worse than it is.

> fails to ace some tests > plural

But the article only mentions one imperfect score. I have to agree with you - click bait.

To be fair, to quote from the article: "In the test, the seat belt in Tesla's Model S was not effective and could lead to the driver's head striking the steering wheel hard through the air bag, according to the report."

I don't understand how this is a "second highest score" instead of a complete fail?

Agreed, the seat belt is pretty damn significant to passenger safety, the car should be outright given 1 star. Tesla would immediately respond with a recall.

It's not even like it's new technology, seat belts should never ever fail.

That is hilarious!

I mean, seriously. I mean, if that is how their seat belt work, I am pretty sure their "autopilot" would be out of this world/s (or take you out of this world..)

They may have run a battery of tests and it's likelihood of happening is low. I wonder if the test results are publicly available.

I believe this is the video of the test. 40 mph into wall. Car safety has come a long way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMcuiFmIQTo

That doesn't look good to me. It's no accident that the vehicles someone else posted a link to glance off the barrier in the partial overlap.

edit: For example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnRIwQn9SA8

This video explains the issue: https://youtu.be/8tOlNSrxcLs?t=49s

Apparently the crash test dummy's head slips between the steering wheel and the side curtain airbag to hit the steering wheel.

The Model S also doesn't seem to glance off the test structure in that particular test the same way other cars do and instead takes the full force of the crash to its firewall. Which certainly doesn't help.

Here's the Lincoln Continental in comparison: https://youtu.be/pMc4NERWChc

It's probably safe to assume Tesla is going to update the Model S in the relevant areas.

This is sort of unrelated to the main point of the article:

>In order to get the top IIHS rating, automakers must have a frontal crash prevention system with automatic braking capabilities to prevent a rear-end collision.

>The IIHS is a research arm of the insurance industry

This reminds me that one should always be aware of where the money is coming from.

A frontal impact is a frontal impact. IIHS wants to see cars that don't let the driver rear end other cars because that's what the people who pay them want to see.

Yep. Every single one of those commercials that demonstrate the automatic breaking also feature the driver breaking the law some manner around distracted driving.

If you ever active automatic braking, you probably deserve a citation.

Advertising is a numbers driven business. Every facet of every ad is designed to appeal to certain demographics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sr3AkWSRMg

Meanwhile in the real world...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzD_3OFOPVQ

> The vehicles must stop or slow down without driver intervention before hitting a target in tests at 12 or 25 miles per hour among other factors, IIHS said.

I'm curious how the Tesla Model S behaved and why they decided it was "only acceptable".

The article explains that the seatbelt was somehow inadequate and caused the driver's head to hit the steering wheel hard through the airbag.

Looking on the bright side that means it's probably not the kind of airbag that puts people in the hospital when they would have otherwise walked away.

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