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Originally Posted by JSH
You're right. I must have been looking at the Model S
From the NHTSA: "Frontal crash rating results can only be compared to other vehicles in the same class and whose weight is plus or minus 250 pounds of the vehicle being rated. "
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I'm guessing Tesla's reference to the 3 was excluding the frontal crash test and including the side impactor, side pole, and rollover if the frontal results can't be compared.
Quote:
Side crash rating results can be compared across all classes because all vehicles are hit with the same force by the same moving barrier or pole.
Rollover ratings can also be compared across all classes. Frontal crash rating results can only be compared to other vehicles in the same class and whose weight is plus or minus 250 pounds of the vehicle being rated. This is because a frontal crash rating into a fixed barrier represents a crash between two vehicles of the same weight.
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For instance, here's the 3's results for the side impactor test.
https://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databa...aspx?LJC=10384
The Head Injury Criterion (HIC) for the driver (male 50-percentile weight) is crazy low at 67.
The newest Lexus ES-350 is at 171 for the driver. The passenger (female 5-percentile weight) ratings are close though at 206 versus 229.
https://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databa....aspx?LJC=9488
Even with the 3 not weighing quite as much as something like the RX-350, the 3 is still likely safer for a driver in the frontal test because the difference in curb weights is ~400lbs (3814lbs for the 3 versus 4222lbs for the RX-350) and the difference in driver HIC is substantial at 81 for the 3 compared to 265 for the RX-350. The RX-350 is better for the passenger at 178 compared to 235 for the 3.
https://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databa...aspx?LJC=10383
https://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databa...aspx?LJC=10383
The 3's not the best tested car in every category, and the frontal test results can't be compared 1:1 outside of it's weight class, but after looking at some other cars my sense is that the 3 is likely the safest car for the driver overall, even taking into account weight differences. It's among the best for the passenger, but there are better, mostly SUVs I imagine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
Where are all these old batteries coming from?
I thought tesla made it so their batteries needed something like 1/3 the cobalt or current batteries and 1/10 the cobalt of older generations of lithium nickel manganese cobalt batteries.
Supposedly really the only incentive to recycle lithium batteries was to get the cobalt.
When something like a leaf battery gets turned in for its core deposit they go to a cell swapper where all the cells can be tested and bad ones replaced, then the battery gets sold as "reconditioned".
But the pictures I have seen of the tesla battery that's not really an option.
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AFAIK the same thing applies for a Tesla, but instead of swapping out individual prismatic batteries, Tesla swaps out bricks and each brick has however many 18650 or 2270 cylindrical cells. If someone was really determined, they may be able to replace individual defective 18650/2270 cells, but I doubt most people would for the same reason that most people don't bother trying to replace the bad individual D-cells in older Honda hybrid packs.