Tesla Adds Battery Shield to Model-S

On Friday, Tesla Motors

CEO Elon Musk

which said the company will be installing battery shields on existing Model-S cars for free. The move comes after a third report of car fires in a five week span, which prompted an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Thankfully for Tesla shareholders, the NHTSA closed the investigation on Friday, saying the software update to raise ride height on highways in addition to the battery shield “should reduce both the frequency of underbody strikes and the resultant fire risk.” The shield will consist of a hollow aluminum bar, titanium plate, and a solid aluminum extrusion which is a shallow angle. The triple underbody shield was tested in “every worst case debris impact...including hardened steel structures set in the ideal position for a piking even, essentially equivalent to driving a car at highway speed into a steel spear braced on the tarmac,” said Musk. The new shield will have a 0.1 percent impact on range and won't affect ride or handling. Musk concluded his blog by saying, “With a track record of zero deaths or serious, permanent injuries since our vehicles went into production six years ago, there is no safe car on the road than a Tesla.”