Re:Elon Musk defiant in face of federal investigation of Tes...
by bri3d on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @05:42PM
(#6771746)
> Car fuel tanks are made of something like 1-2mm steel.
Many, many car fuel tanks are made of plastic.
It's the position of the tank in the car rather than the material involved that's important.
This is a hard problem for Tesla to solve because their batteries are bigger by volume, really heavy, don't get lighter as they discharge, and don't shape as easily as a liquid, so the bottom of the car is the only really good place for one.
That's why Tesla used the "heavy armor" approach and actually -do- have several mm of metal located beneath the battery, but no armor is perfect.
Many, many car fuel tanks are made of plastic.
It's the position of the tank in the car rather than the material involved that's important.
This is a hard problem for Tesla to solve because their batteries are bigger by volume, really heavy, don't get lighter as they discharge, and don't shape as easily as a liquid, so the bottom of the car is the only really good place for one.
That's why Tesla used the "heavy armor" approach and actually -do- have several mm of metal located beneath the battery, but no armor is perfect.