I am one of the reservation holder of Model S. Upon close up inspection on Model S prototype on display, I noticed the front end is a very poorly thought out design. Although the front end styling looks nice aesthetically with influence from Aston Martin's original design ($$$), the hood extends all the way to the front end above the grille without separate bumper section. During front end collisions (slow 3 mph), both the hood and the grille are the first impact point of contact and it will get easily damaged together with the front body panel. I also imagine of rumors that the charging port will also be hidden inside the front grille. This will be a very expensive repair cost potentially considering it's made of alluminum. I'd rather have a front panel with grille and bumper as one section for impact (crumple) zone that can be easily replaced at low cost, rather than having to also replace the hood as well. Who knows how much it will cost to also replace the front charging port? With similarities to Maserati's front end design, Maserati has done a good job designing their front end without exposing the hood to the front end.
Also into consideration, insurance companies may raise the coverage premiums for Model S, due to discovering its expensive aluminum repair costs as described above.
You can view how luxury cars fare in 3mph bumper crash test below;
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/08/03/057181.html
I hope Tesla rethinks this major design flaw for avoiding expensive front end collision repair costs. They should reconsider affordable lower costs with minimum parts replacement for mass target market potential.
Also into consideration, insurance companies may raise the coverage premiums for Model S, due to discovering its expensive aluminum repair costs as described above.
You can view how luxury cars fare in 3mph bumper crash test below;
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/08/03/057181.html
I hope Tesla rethinks this major design flaw for avoiding expensive front end collision repair costs. They should reconsider affordable lower costs with minimum parts replacement for mass target market potential.