The Tesla Model S has been a complete game changer in the electric vehicle community and, frankly, the automotive space at large. As the company prepares to roll out the first batch of production Model 3s that are expected to broaden the appeal of the marque, the pressure is on.
Will it be a boom or bust? Time is counting down until we find out.
If you've been following the price of TSLA these days, you may have noticed the company had a bit of a slide this week to the tune of about 13 percent. One of the reasons behind this was the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) testing of the Model S.
Although the Model S scored the best possible rating everywhere else, it only received an "acceptable" in the small overlap front crash test. This is notoriously the most difficult crash test in the industry and has been responsible for resetting safety expectations.
Wondering why the S received that score? Well, that's because the Model S' seat belt was not able to keep the crash test dummy's head from slamming into the steering wheel. According to reports this was seen in earlier tests of the Model S; however, it's pretty clear there were no lessons learned there.
To make matters worse, Tesla's response has been quite dismissive. I am paraphrasing here but essentially the company said that private organizations have agendas and that the most accurate safety ratings come from the U.S. government.
[Crickets]
Because the government doesn't have an agenda? Pft.
Maybe the PR team could have just taken "the big bath" on this one and said we'll revisit the seat belt design and get the car back in for more testing with IIHS. I mean, it is only considered the industry standard. Mind you, the Lincoln Continental, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Toyota Avalon all were rated higher in this specific crash test.
...In the tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 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.
Ford's Lincoln Continental, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Toyota Motor Corp's Avalon received the highest rating overall, the agency said on Thursday.
Tesla's Model S received the highest rating in IIHS's crash testing in every category except one, the small overlap front crash test, where it received the second-highest rating available, a Tesla spokesperson said in an email...
2017 Tesla Model S (models built after January 2017) 40 mph small overlap IIHS crash test
Overall evaluation: Acceptable
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