After the NHTSA was spurred by a trio of highly publicized fires to start investigating the safety credentials of the Tesla Model S, the American EV manufacturer upgraded its luxury sedan to avoid an official recall.
Each of the vehicles had their battery underbody protection plate pierced by road debris at high speeds, thus catching fire from the resulting electrical malfunctions.
Fortunately, all occupants involved walked away unharmed thanks to the steel and ceramic firewall sandwiched between the battery pack and the passenger compartment.
Since March 2014, Tesla Motors started to retrofit existing cars and factory fresh Model S vehicles with a redesigned protective shield, much more sturdy than the former. Following this fiasco, Consumer Reports uploaded a YouTube video in which it showcases before and after differences between the improved and the faulty old plate.
The upgrade consists of a three-piece shielding unit that goes beneath the underbody tray. Two of the plates are made from military grade aluminum, but are obscured by the plastic front section of the ensemble. The third one is a titanium underbody shield, which is a last resort if the aluminum deflectors happen to fail at any given moment.
Even though Tesla says that the new ensemble is really tough, it doesn't add significant weight to the model nor does it affect the underbody aerodynamics of the Model S. All in all, the Palo Alto-based company deserves a big round of applause for the prompt way it responded to this safety issue with a real, working solution.
Scroll down and play the video to see the Tesla Model S fix firsthand.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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