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Wanted to start a thread for Mission E prototype photos. Mark Webber has a video out today about a photo shoot. I just grabbed a few screen shots from that and a few from a Car and Driver auto show photo set to start this thread out.
My wife was thinking to get a Tesla next year to replace her Mini DD when the lease runs out. She recently saw the Mission E prototype though and really liked it - now she's thinking about a short 3 series lease with plans to then buy a mission E when it's released.
I love the looks of the concept car, including some of the odder things, like the rear suicide doors. Those seem like they could be a huge positive, eliminating the B pillar for improved visibility from the driver's seat, and easier access to the rear seats when you do need to put something back there. I'm not sure what they do to the car's rigidity, though.
Unfortunately, it's a concept car, and it's unlikely that the final production model will look like that. The last production car I've seen that actually looked like the concept was the BMW i8.
I love the looks of the concept car, including some of the odder things, like the rear suicide doors. Those seem like they could be a huge positive, eliminating the B pillar for improved visibility from the driver's seat, and easier access to the rear seats when you do need to put something back there. I'm not sure what they do to the car's rigidity, though.
Unfortunately, it's a concept car, and it's unlikely that the final production model will look like that. The last production car I've seen that actually looked like the concept was the BMW i8.
Is it even possible to pass US side impact standards without a "B" pillar? I had a pickup truck smash into the front and rear doors (t-bone). The impact destroyed the doors but the B pillar prevented any intrusion. The car was accelerated sideways which screwed up my back for a few weeks. Otherwise there was no injury. I cannot imagine what could happen if the B pillar was not there to stop such a high bumper.
Is it even possible to pass US side impact standards without a "B" pillar? I had a pickup truck smash into the front and rear doors (t-bone). The impact destroyed the doors but the B pillar prevented any intrusion. The car was accelerated sideways which screwed up my back for a few weeks. Otherwise there was no injury. I cannot imagine what could happen if the B pillar was not there to stop such a high bumper.
Yeah, just heavy. At the joint the doors can include larger than typical vertical beams that press against the floor and roof of the car in an impact.
The Honda Element is a modern car that has them. We used to own one. Biggest issue I had with the suicide doors was practical - with a rear seat passenger they're a pain in a garage or a tight parking space.
with out a really good/solid fast charging plan it's going to be hard to beat the Tesla Supercharger network - until you own an EV you don't fully appreciate what Tesla has accomplished in this space, and continues to push as an advantage.
Having driven EV's for the past 5 years I'm all in on EV's and look forward to the Mission E, but I'm also no delusional - the Tesla is a better bet for the foreseeable future and I recommend getting one ASAP - the Model S is a great car!! If you can stand the Falcon Wing doors the Model X has the best front cockpit going in the industry for pure joy of taking in a drive…
get the Tesla, and then swap to a Mission E once the fast charging story becomes more clear…
I am waiting for my porsche EV…but for now I love my Tesla.
but keep in mind crash dynamics are very very different with an electric car - both Tesla and Chevy put their batteries in as the floor of the car - this design/approach not only lowers the center of gravity leading to better handling, but also makes the battery cage a structural element adding vast amounts of stiffing to the car and provides for some impressive side impact protection - crash test videos and actual crash photos show side impacts on the Tesla in particular are far less severe and can be attributed to both the mass/stiffing contribution of battery location and cage…now I'm not saying a B-Piller wouldn't make things better, I'm just pointing out that with EV's crash dynamics are slightly different, with the simpler driver trains and less plumbing of an EV the structural engineers have greater freedom to improve crash mitigation.
there is a great video from a few years back with one of Tesla's main designers about how much better front crumple zones are on the model S because of the lack of having to design around an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)…
we'll see how it goes, so far Tesla's crash record is laudable and the design does seem to offer some advantages…
this video from the Tesla Model 3 roll out on a side impact shows what can be accomplished - the lack of side deformation is due in no small part to the floor mounted battery design…
there are certain things that can be revisited and improved upon when you no longer are constrained by ICE requirements - that of course comes with new/different constraints that we will all be learning about over the next several years…
pretty car - I want one - but I might venture that visiblity looks to be awful - I would love to be able to sit in one and judge for myself how well this car will do for actually driving it.
"Part of the Tesla Model S's safety is inherent to all electric cars. The lack of the internal combustion engine block means each car can boast a crumple zone at least two times larger than any gasoline equivalent in the "frunk," or front trunk."
I'm not saying Tesla is perfect - but we're 300,000 cars downstream in Tesla's production cycle, and I'm sure others in the industry are taking notes, and working to improve things - we're at the beginning of the EV revolution and I for one am very very excited to see what a little friendly and not so friendly competition can do to keep pushing this industry forward…
I have 3 EV's and they are my favorite daily drivers - and I own 2 Porsches (GT3 and Boxster) - the gas cars are now my recreational cars - and the EV's carry the brunt of our daily driving loads power by the solar array on my home - my monthly gas bill is non-existant....I can't wait to finally have a choice other than Tesla for my EV car needs, but for the time being it's not that bad to be stuck in a Tesla ;-)
09-02-2017, 06:47 PM
Prototype Photos
