Tesla adds Titanium Underbody Shield to Model S

[kendallpb]

To my understanding the retrofit actually LESSENS the ground clearance, so you will scrape more speed humps than before.

In another thread, someone said the new lowering isn't quite as low as originally; this makes sense to me, given the above (which makes sense to me as well). So once retrofitted, the car would be effectively as low as before, methinks...? (Not that I know how thick the new super shield is--just guessing how it all adds up.) Does this actually add up/make sense?

Anyway, really interesting stuff. I don't see the need, personally, but it sounds like any negative effect will be negligible (e.g., reducing range .1%? so, up to a few tenths of a mile? meh), so why not have extra protection.

 

[brianman]

This sounds correct to me. Surely a good plan.
But this doesn't solve the terrible problem of reversing over 'pikeing' objects at high rates of speed and damaging the battery pack! :scared:

Reverse is speed limited (unless you're going backwards downhill I suppose) so "not repro".

 

[Jason S]

This sounds correct to me. Surely a good plan.

But this doesn't solve the terrible problem of reversing over 'pikeing' objects at high rates of speed and damaging the battery pack! :scared:

High rates of speed in reverse is possible now? :biggrin:

 

[ecarfan]

The shield may not, but the aluminium deflector does extend slightly under the front edge of the battery pack, and may thus impact battery swapping.

Yes that does appear to be the case based on the photos I've seen. I wonder if this means that automated battery swapping will not be happening.

Personally I don't think battery swapping is very compelling based on the rapid build out of the Supercharger network. I did my first long distance Model S trip last month, San Francisco to Orange County (California) and back, using both the 5 and the 101. It was ridiculously easy. I figure I spent less than 50 minutes additional time overall compared to the way I have done it many times before in an ICE.

 

[tom66]

High rates of speed in reverse is possible now? :biggrin:

Electrically, the vehicle is capable of the full 320kW in reverse... practically this is probably a bad idea and so reverse is speed (and power/torque?) limited.
It's really easy to rotate a three-phase induction motor: simply swap any two phases, which can be done in the drive control software/firmware.

 

[AudubonB]

High rates of speed in reverse is possible now? :biggrin:

Sure! Just start at the top of Pikes Peak, facing uphill, and..... :scared:

 

[JPP]

View attachment 45990
This is my car I just picked up 2 days ago. I don't know, but I don't see anything. Maybe the black panel under the front part of the car is new?

You've got the shield....

- - - Updated - - -

I was the first at my SC to get the update/upgrade Friday morning (...unnamed...they are already getting slammed with phone calls) and the service team used my vehicle as a 'test bed' to take their time to go over the parts and documents supplied by the factory, and understand how to efficiently do the upgrade/installation. Went fine--no issues. The service advisor said that parts would be rolling into the SC slowly, and once up to speed, the techs should be able to do the update/upgrade in an hour or so.
I've seen the parts in person (no photos--out of respect for my service advisor). Beefy extruded aluminum quarter round bar up front weighs a couple of pounds (guesstimate). The black titanium plate is very light (maybe not even a pound) and pretty thin--meant to deflect debris and prevent penetration, but the bar is the 'cow catcher' that can take the impact you see in the video clips in Elon's blog. Retrofit can be done on essentially all S on the road (including most early Sigs and Founders cars).

Here is the info from my invoice:


Concern: Bulletin: Model S | SB-14-30-002 | Underbody Shield Installation Per CustomerRequest
Cause: Bulletin: Model S | SB-14-30-002 | Underbody Shield Installation Per CustomerRequest
Correction: Install Underbody Shield Using Underbody Shield Kit, Modify and Install FrontUndershiel
installed the under body shield kit. took on a test drive, ok.


Part Qty
FR BASH PLATE LWR STAMPING, 1.00TITANIUM (1037113-00-A)
SKID BAR, FR SUB FRAME (1036143-00-B) 1.00
BLT,TRX,BFLG,M6-1.00x35[8.8]-P-12 2.00(1014288-00-B)
SPACER, FR SUB FRAME SKID BAR 2.00(1036619-00-A)
SPACER SHLDR M6x12x3+8 PLA ADH 2.00(1038838-00-A)
ISOLATOR PATCH, TITANIUM STAMPING 2.00(1038621-00-A)
RVT PUSH-PULL 8X18X20.0 (1006521-00-A) 2.00
WASHER 8.4x16x1.6 PLA ADH (1038837-00- 2.00A)
BLT,HEX,FLG,M6-1.00x25[8.8]-09 (2007206) 2.00
BLT HF M6x1.00x18 [8.8]-D-ZnAl-W 2.00(1006529-00-A)
TAPE, DBL SIDED ADHESIVE, SCUFF 4.00PLATE (1017616-00-A)
FR BASH PLATE LWR EXTRUSION 1.00(1037112-00-A)
1037743-00-A (1037743-00-A) 2.00
NUT RVT RND THN M6-1.00x3 ZnNi 2.00(2007016)


Pay Type: Warranty

 

[bareyb]

Have we established that with the new higher ride height, these new Plates will not decrease the ground clearance that we have now? These are low enough that I occasionally scrape. I don't like the idea of going any lower.

 

[JRP3]

From the pictures it only appears to be about 1/4-1/2 inch lower, and that's only near the front wheels, not in the middle of the pack, so high centering should not be any more of a problem than it already is.

 

[Norbert]

Just as I said at the time of the two incidents: Tesla kept working on it in the background.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

JPP, thanks for posting the parts list.

What is an "Isolator Patch"? That's the only item on the list that I don't have a clue about.

 

[JPP]

JPP, thanks for posting the parts list.

What is an "Isolator Patch"? That's the only item on the list that I don't have a clue about.

Unknown but maybe something interposed between aluminum and titanium to deal with sound/vibration or even electrolytic action...any experts out there???

 

[anon]

The black titanium plate is very light (maybe not even a pound) and pretty thin--meant to deflect debris and prevent penetration.

I'm curious about the titanium plate being black - does it replace the existing plastic cover? From the earlier discussion in this thread, I thought it was the metallic-looking plate above the plastic cover, as illustrated in post 125: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...eld-to-Model-S?p=617493&viewfull=1#post617493

 

[Yggdrasill]

Titanium is usually coated for corrosion resistance and various other reasons, so I would think this is why it's black. It doesn't replace the plastic cover, it's still in front of the extruded aluminum bar, behind the plastic cover.

 

[scaesare]

From what i've been able to tell by my observations, there are three structural components to the shield, also Elon's post has mentioned this as well.

At the front of the mechanical area ahead of the battery pack, I think there is basically what is an aluminum pole (Elon refers to it in his post as 'rounded hollow aluminum bar'). It's the first line of defense and it is appears to be designed to reposition potential piking objects and have the piking action happen into the titanium plate or the plastic aeroshield or frunk liner area ahead of the battery pack.

Just forward of the battery pack leading edge is the aluminum extrusion with holes and an indention pattern that is positioned at an angle. This piece is designed as the last line of defense. If an object reaches this piece intact, the piece will help push the car up and over it (Elon says 'causes the Model S to ramp up and over the object').

The Titanium plate (which is actually the second line of defense) is just behind the rounded aluminum pole and on top of the aluminum extrusion. It covers almost all of the mechanical area under the front of the frunk, behind the rounded aluminum pole. The plate appears to be very, very strong, so objects that impact it are usually crushed or repositioned in the case of a object that isn't crushed or structurally degraded by the plate (Which keeps the object from piking into the battery) and ejects the object to the side or back of the car.

It really is an ingenious solution that appears to be designed to keep the weight of the material used as light as possible and to be easily retrofitted into existing cars and easily integrated into the production line. Tesla once again shows it's engineering and problem solving chops. I'm no structural engineer, but to my eye, it appears that this is no brute force solution. It's an elegant, efficient design that solves the problem about as efficiently as possible without completely redesigning the front of the car. Great job Tesla!

I think the front "rounded, hollow aluminum bar" it what we don't have pictures of yet, or where it's positioned. I'ts hard to tell in the blog video footage, but it appears that the items are first impacted by what I assume is this bar well ahead of the front axle line, and perhaps at what would be the leading edge of the frunk-well? This would seem to mesh with Elon's point that it would "force it to pike upwards well forward of the battery pack. This pierces the plastic aeroshield and front trunk liner"

I do wonder, however, if the titanium shield plate then extends all the way from the front of the battery back (where we have seen it in the previous pictures) all the way under the frunk to that first aluminum bar? From the description, it sounds as if the expectation is that the underside of the trunk/liner can be considered sacrificial in that it could "capture" an incompressible object away form any susceptible underbody components. I'm wondering if the Ti plate only extends to the back edge of the trunkwell area?

Finally, I notice that the rear aluminum extrusion is shaped such that it not only covers the gap between plate and battery pack, but that it is designed to extend upwards thus that it is on contact with the structural frame of the vehicle... any impact there is going to transfer energy not to the pack, but as Elon says to ramp the car upwards over the object:

So, given the focus of the effort has been to reinforce the area ahead of the batter pack, did the investigation into the "piking event" fire conclude that the hitch came through the front area of the car and pierced the front face of the pack, but not the armor on it's belly?

In the blog video, the hitch tumbles out the side of the car... but does remain intact... if it were instead to tumble down the centerline of the pack and re-orient itself to pike again, is the belief that the existing ballistic aluminum shielding is sufficient?

 

[Lloyd]

It appears to me that the lateral extrusion would interfere with "battery swapping" so perhaps battery swapping is no longer being carried forward for use???

 

[JRP3]

Or they just use two extra nut runners on the swap machine and it comes right out with the pack.

 

[scaesare]

I have to say, I'm rather surprised at the rapid fall-off in this discussion... I find it rather fascinating and continue to wonder about the questions I posed above... (maybe it was my small novella of a post that drove everybody off)

In any case, an update on retrofits: I have to take my car in to the Service Center on Wed for an unrelated issue, and they said they already had the retrofit parts in stock and could install it as well... so it does appear the factory was indeed proactive about getting these out.

It's the Service Center in Rockville, MD... good folks there.

 

[roblab]

I have to say, I'm rather surprised at the rapid fall-off in this discussion... I find it rather fascinating and continue to wonder about the questions I posed above... (maybe it was my small novella of a post that drove everybody off)

In any case, an update on retrofits: I have to take my car in to the Service Center on Wed for an unrelated issue, and they said they already had the retrofit parts in stock and could install it as well... so it does appear the factory was indeed proactive about getting these out.

It's the Service Center in Rockville, MD... good folks there.

It could be that there are only a few who are genetically prone to worry about things that probably won't ever happen.

My daughter didn't want to come visit me because I live in California, and those earthquakes could KILL YOU!

Of course, where she lives, there's heat, humidity, lightning, floods, icy roads, etc. which kill hundreds every year, many times what California earthquakes claim.

There are many of us who just figure the odds are that this kind of accident will virtually never happen, with or without a titanium tank bar. I may never have it installed ... or I may. Looks like it won't interfere, is easy, doesn't give much penalty. And they install it while the car is in for something else, for free. Why not? And whether it works or not, I most likely will never find out.

 

[Aussie]

In theory I wonder what the incentive is to install this thing. If I hit something on the road which causes the car to burn down I get a new car from Tesla. If I install this I run the risk of damaging something and not get a new car. So why install it.