A fun comparison:
Munro on the BMW i3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqiBWfsDTAA
Munro on the Tesla Model 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIo8e12sBM
Munro on the BMW i3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqiBWfsDTAA
Munro on the Tesla Model 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIo8e12sBM
Also who in the 2018 world designs trunk doors that would take two hands to close for kids, smaller/older individuals? The non power operated trunk on my CR-V closes with a finger!
His comments about the outside door handles were at least prefaced with his own physical limitation but the state of that car is mind boggling. This is on top of the known promised features and oversight with regards to the programming of the display. I did notice on reddit there is a story of a III having cratered its engine. http://teslaweekly.com/first-model-3-motor-failure-reported-...
All in all 2017 wasn't their best year so hopefully 2018 will see a turn around but even max projections are well under 200k cars this year
Brother of my close friend literally burned to death in a Hyundai with no manual override for unlocking/opening doors. Granted he had modified the car's stereo system with custom speakers and the roadside mechanic did not do a good job with it which caused short circuit/fire. But had he been able to manually open the doors he would still be alive today. And to think Tesla is all batteries that have strong chance of starting a fire - ugh.
If car body construction tech was new you could cut Tesla some slack but given all of these issues have been fixed by pretty much all manufacturers years ago - I have no sympathy for Tesla there.
Related - a woman was stuck in her Audi Q3 in 41C (106F) heat. (Australia, 2003)
I'm not going to test it, but I imagine myself desperately bouncing the metal prongs off the inside of a window.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i5rycLJ3D8&feature=youtu.be...
Looks like near the edge is good enough.
They're not designed for that, but some can be used in a pinch. Best not to rely on them!
A gasoline car has plenty of flammable material as well.
Ah. So it's like gasoline then?
I'm not saying electric cars are safer or more dangerous in the event of a crash (because I don't know the answer to that), just that batteries can and will catch fire.
So, yes, if you puncture the lithium cells you may put yourself at risk. You're also at risk if you puncture a gasoline tank (worse if you're talking something like hydrogen).
Note: Tesla does not, AFAIK, use LiFePo4 cells. Additionally one of the big challenges is that LiFePo4 cells are less energy dense than other lithium chemistries.
A Tesla burned down after a crash in Austria last year [2]
1: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T4sDy-zdV2o
2: https://www.golem.de/news/elektroauto-tesla-model-s-brennt-a...
After a roll-over, it won't be there and you may not be able to reach the glove box. If you have a center console, I recommend keeping it there (that's where I keep mine).
If you're reading this and you don't have one in your car, buy one now. Here is a link for 2 for $10 (give the other one to your spouse/parent/kid/someone): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CQN0DDC/
http://safety.addalot.se/upload/2016/PDF/1-3%20Automotive%20...
https://perryandcoblog.com/2009/11/17/porsche-carrera-911-99...
I can tell he very much enjoys doing what he does.
What exactly did you learn?
He kept saying the i3 "life module" (agile! AGILE!) was some magical achievement. Yeah, carbon fiber is neat. They also choose the grain direction of panels for optimum efficiency.
- We've been using grain direction on wood for what, thousands of years?
- We've been made cars "strong" for century. It's called a tube frame. And it's one of the main reasons dragsters/NASCAR drivers don't die on impacts that will kill most people in consumer cars.
What's actually important these days is not how "strong" a frame is. It's how it deforms to absorb maximum energy on impact so the passengers experience the least acceleration possible. "Strong" has been solved. And crush areas have been common for decades upon decades. The only new thing here is they're using carbon fiber. And the only reason they're doing that... is 1) "marketing" and 2) weight reduction because battery cars are very heavy AND very sensitive to weight for mileage.
Automotive companies aren't on the frontline of technology. They're on the frontline of CHEAP/mass-producible technology.
Simply putting some carbon fiber on a body is not magical to us practicing mechanical engineers. But I guess it may seem like "magic" to software people, the way mechanical people see IT/software as magic.
What's actually "Cool" about this company/video is how they can tear down entire vehicles and come up with accurate cost estimates, as well as the construction order. That takes a _lot_ of work and industry experience. But the technology in those cars? It's not even remotely new.
If these kinds of problems and design issues are still present when I'm ready to buy a 3, I'd probably reconsider.
Maybe they'll tighten their tolerances as they perfect their line, but some of those design decisions seem almost beyond explanation-- the double door handles (where one option shames the user for doing what should be the normal MO), the absence of mechanical releases in the back and in the frunk, and so on.
To be fair though, Tesla's manufacturing quality does indeed falling behind their targeted segment majorly. Like Munro said, even Kia makes better assembly these days (without uneven gaps etc.) But yes, have a paid contract for product promotion doesn't hurt
> Plus, the engineers told me, the cost models are proven. Some manufactures, they said, actually hand their own parts to Munro asking them to use their model to see how close they can get to the actual cost of manufacture. Munro says their numbers always come very close, and that they’ve even been accused of having insider information. Munro isn’t just there to help engineers learn about how the competition designs and assembles its cars, it’s also there to help automakers—who really should be called “auto assemblers”—figure out if they’re getting ripped off by their parts suppliers. Knowing exactly how much it costs to build a wheel bearing, for example, can act as leverage for negotiation against a supplier of that part. At the same time, suppliers also go to Munro to learn. If, for example, one of their competitors is selling a part for what seems like impossibly too little, the supplier might ask Munro to tear it down and figure out how the competitor is saving cost.
The engineers don't give a damn about a Munro PR video about a competitor, period. It's a complete non-issue for them, and the same goes for their managers who are the ones who decide to work with Munro. They want to know every detail about how all the sausage is made (or what the sausage actually is). They don't care if the car is well made or poorly made; they're focused on the how; after all, even a car with severe quality control issues can offer useful insights. Besides, every peculiar (or even dumb) design or manufacturing decision they've made was previously laid bare by companies like Munro. Think of the process as something more like peer review or a morbidity and mortality conference for doctors. It's not a public process, despite something like this video.
Basically, the people who would care if Munro upset the company by speaking favorably about Tesla are the people who have no involvement in whether their company works with Munro in the first place. If someone from Ford marketing told Ford engineering to quit working with Munro because of a video, they'd be laughed at and promptly ignored.
"I'm calling this out about your car. You got quality problems. We can help."
I can see there being a Model 3 recall over that kind of stuff. What's the point of over the air software updates if your hardware is unsafe.
https://www.nfpa.org/Training-and-Events/By-topic/Alternativ...
The battery disconnect procedures there, using the high voltage service disconnects, start with lowering the back seat or jacking up the rear of the car.
Tesla provides the location of the little access panel on the quick response sheet here:
https://www.tesla.com/firstresponders
Requiring 12 volts to pop the hood is not great but it doesn't seem to be that much of a departure either.
The car could be upside down or on a very steep hill. It all seems pretty frightening stuff. You're basically just praying you don't have a serious crash which is back to the 60s.
I don't think that emergency procedures should be matched to other electric vehicles they should be matched to existing ICE cars.
That’s not a difficult procedure: open the hood (forcefully if need be, latch is in the front), cut the wire in the place marked in bright orange and labeled accordingly - and immediately visible and accessible upon opening the hood.
In reality, I think this has almost no impact on his business other than a little bit of publicity. Well run companies on the scale of GM are going to be just as interested in the data on a competitor whether their competitor is better or worse. There is always something to be learned. Ford is going to learn different things from Hyundai and from Mercedes...but they are going to learn.
The 3 they were looking at had two points to cut the electrical system, both of which were hard to get to during an accident, and the rear doors had no mechanical backup at all. If power goes out rear passengers need to make their way to the front seats or trunk.
Maybe watch the actual video rather than imagining what the video was to say and then responding to that.
Im a fan of Tesla, I wish the best for them. They arent perfect, there is a ton of room for improvement, but it is largely cosmetic and not safety critical.