Eager to show progress on the company's second model, the Model S sedan, Tesla showed off a bare chassis of the battery-electric vehicle in all its aluminum-intensive glory. Comprised of castings, extrusions and stampings that are variously welded and riveted, the Model S is showing signs that it may not be vaporware after all. Maybe.
Details and video after the jump.
The body-in-white you see here is said to be the second prototype Model S chassis, and it is about 85-percent representative of the production thing. Its castings suggest that much of the car's long-lead production tooling is locked in. The modular subframe assemblies, air dampers and all the little bits required to hold everything together appear to be more or less sorted, and company engineers say that production release is weeks away.
It all seems to be quite far along, especially considering that nobody's been able to snap a spy photo of a development mule yet.
Whichever side of the vaporware debate you sit, Tesla's display was great for showing off the gory car-geek details of the chassis.
Here are a few:
The primary longitudinal members and transverse brace are straight extrusions; upper suspension mounts are cast. Forged knuckles integrate a high mount for the upper control arm.
The rear subframe is a modular piece that carries the electric motor and inverter low in the car. There isn't a large percentage of the mass that's located beyond the axle lines, either. This centralization of powertrain mass will be good for handling. But what about the heavy battery? See below.
The battery pack spans the length and width of the floor and is mounted directly to the bottom of the car, where it is actually a stressed member of the chassis. As such it provides additional chassis stiffness. In this photo you're looking between the battery and the car; they were separated for this exhibit.
The dash beam is steel for cost savings -- since it's not cast, it's much easier to adapt for use in right-hand-drive versions of the Model S.
A fairly traditional multilink rear suspension geometry, affixed to the subframe you saw a couple photos above.
tenstringer009 says:
04:52 PM, 01/10/11
Here is a possible Tesla development mule:
http://yfrog.com/h7nxhmj
lostboyz says:
03:22 AM, 01/11/11
if they were weeks away from production they would've brought a final pre-production version to show off. I bet we don't see a volume production for 6 months at least.
ampim says:
05:30 AM, 01/11/11
It's an impressive looking chassis, and it looks like they've made the most of the packaging advantage they have with the electric powertrain. But I have to wonder how in the world they plan on making any money on this car if they actually sell it for $50k. The only cars I can think of off-hand that make use of an aluminium body are the A8, the Z06/ZR1, and a couple Jags. Throw in some expensive batteries and it looks like this car would have to be priced around $80k to break even. Their low volumes aren't helping either. Good luck to them though.
throwback says:
07:54 AM, 01/11/11
I like this display. It's not ofeten you get to look under the skin. Dan, next time you do a suspension walk around, please remove all of the body panels. Assuming this car is fun to drive, and it has a 300 mile range as claimed, I could see my self buying one. I wish them luck.
ed124c says:
09:23 AM, 01/11/11
Awesome photos. I don't know if all cars look anything like this Tesla under the skin, but the photos are works of art. I am impressed.
But, I doubt whether the Tesla will flourish. They might sell 20 or 30, but then economics will overwhelm the company and... well, bye bye.
Even without any cocaine involved.
legacygt says:
09:58 AM, 01/11/11
Very interesting.
Tesla still seems to be going to great lengths to avoid showing exactly how the +2 seating is going to work out.
smallfield says:
11:05 AM, 01/11/11
"Tesla still seems to be going to great lengths to avoid showing exactly how the +2 seating is going to work out."
- Agreed - where do you put the extra people in this sedan? Maybe they ride outside?
angry_mushroom says:
02:35 PM, 01/11/11
I guess the rest of the car is optional in order to drive down costs? Too late. I've lost interest now that the Leaf and Volt are out. Maybe it'll be priced against the Coda?