Hot wheels. Our wheels are constructed from machined forged aluminum alloy for low mass and high strength. The unique design of the spokes leans clockwise on the right side of the car and counter-clockwise on the left.

Safety

Protection from the Ground Up

The safest car incorporates the best in both active and passive solutions. Tesla Motors has taken every step to make the Tesla Roadster as safe as it is efficient and beautiful.

Four Outstanding Safety Features: The Tires

The four contact patches created by the tires are crucial to safety. The Tesla Roadster starts with superior Yokohama tires fitted onto forged wheels. Our fully independent, double-wishbone suspension ensures that each wheel works independently to hold optimal tire-to-ground contact for active safety through driver control. Because tire pressure is of absolute importance to tire performance, the Roadster comes standard with a tire-pressure monitoring system that can be accessed via the Touch Screen display.

The Most Crucial Few Seconds Behind the Wheel

No automobile manufacturer can prevent accidents, but we’ve done everything in our power to minimize the likelihood of one occurring and maximizing safety in case one ever does. A 4-channel ABS anti-lock brake system results in shorter stopping distances and helps maintain vehicle control even under emergency braking conditions. The extruded and resin bonded aluminum monocouque chassis envelops the driver and passenger in a protective cocoon of safety. The Roadster features driver and passenger airbags, as well as front and rear energy absorbing zones.

Safety testing in Arvidsjaur, Sweden

In January 2007 our engineers traveled with one of the prototype Tesla Roadsters to Arvidsjaur, Sweden, to perform ABS and other safety testing. Located 110 km south of the Arctic Circle, Arvidsjaur is one of Europe’s most extreme environments and a location favored by car manufacturers worldwide for cold weather testing. We used frozen lakes and icy back roads in the area to put the Tesla Roadster through its paces. For a sample of some of the tests we performed, take a look at the videos below or read our blog post.

ABS
The car is driven at high speed over a split surface (otherwise known as a "split-mu" course), where one half of the car is over a heated patch of asphalt (high-mu) and the other half of the car is over ice (low-mu). The ABS system detects the wheels locking up on the slippery, icy side and automatically reduces the braking pressure on that side. This ensures the car will remain stable and stop in a straight line when the brakes are applied. Watch ABS test video. ( Free QuickTime player required to view video. Videos depict professional drivers on closed course. Do not attempt.)

Accelerator
We take another high-speed drive on ice, this time around the circular track that demonstrates fine turning of the Tesla Roadster’s accelerator control. Traction control is turned off, so you will notice the car sliding to some degree. Watch ice driving: wide view or watch ice driving: car chase view. (Free QuickTime player required to view video. Videos depict professional drivers on closed course. Do not attempt.)

With Charging, It’s Safety First

We’re committed to making sure the charging process and the battery won’t pose a safety issue to you, your passengers, or anyone stumbling around in your garage.

For starters, the plug on the High Power Connector unit only becomes “live” when it is properly connected to the car and both the High Power Connector unit and the car have “talked” and agreed the connection is safe to allow the electricity to flow through it. As a backup, the High Power Connector vehicle connector is designed such that you cannot touch any metal on the charging pins

The High Power Connector protects against many kinds of faults, including ground faults, strain on the cable, and the presence of smoke in your garage. Whenever any fault is detected, charging is stopped and the cable is deactivated.

Power is All About Safety

Tesla Motors’s engineers selected cells from a reputable Fortune 500 battery supplier that has produced billions of safe, reliable, Li-ion cells. We combined this basic proven cell technology with our own unique battery architecture to provide multiple layers of protection. Our battery design ensures that should any cell fail, adjacent cells do not.

We then collaborated with an outside firm known for expertise in lithium ion battery safety to perform hundreds of tests to validate the safety of our design. In these tests, we set out to simulate a worst-case scenario in which a cell develops a serious malfunction. In each test, we set a cell on fire in the middle of a Tesla Motors battery pack (by intentional heating) and observed the results. Our design succesfully contained these failures to a single cell in each instance - proving the safety of our battery design.

The Battery Safety Monitor, mounted inside the battery pack’s protective enclosure, monitors voltage, current, acceleration, angle, and detects smoke or moisture. Like the controller for an airbag, the Battery Safety Monitor responds to an emergency - in this case by automatically disconnecting the battery pack from the vehicle and shutting down power to the car and to all electric cables in the car.

None of the Tesla Roadster’s high voltage systems are accessible to accidental contact outside their protective enclosures and jacketed cables. Only with special tools can someone gain access to any high-voltage components. Our high-voltage systems are enclosed, labeled, and color-coded with markings that service technicians and emergency responders understand.

Tesla Motors has designed and built a safe and efficient battery that propels the Roadster over 200 miles on a single charge.