special - ALUMINIUM-Nachrichten – ALU-WEB.DE

APPLICATION
Aluminium: Tesla’s secret weapon in new Model S
USA Tesla Motors’ Model S electric
performance prestige saloon car, already
well underway shipping to buyers worldwide,
is one of the latest fine examples of
aluminium-intensive vehicle design and
construction.
The Palo Alto, California-based car manufacturer
announced three years ago that it
planned to build an aluminium-bodied saloon,
and the company scheduled a production run
of 5,000 cars for 2012, ramping up to 20,000
for this year. To date, Tesla had released only
its acclaimed ‘Roadster’, which combined an
extruded aluminium chassis with carbon fibre
composite body panels. Now notably, for the
larger Model S saloon, aluminium components
have been substituted for composites.
Tesla’s design director, Franz von
Holzhausen, explains: “For limited or lowvolume
production cars like the Roadster, carbon
fibre is a material to reduce weight, but
not a solution for higher-volume production
due to costs and manufacturing time. For
Model S, we are using aluminium for the body
panels and chassis, realising that it is as strong
as steel but lighter in weight, and has similar
manufacturing capabilities. Weight is the
enemy of fuel economy – and in the case of
Model S, battery life and lighter weight translate
directly to efficiency.”
Tesla has robustly emphasised that the
Model S is the first all-electric luxury saloon
to be built “from the ground up” – with the
aim of creating a vehicle with optimal rigidity,
light weight, aerodynamics, and interior
space: Tesla engineers fit the vehicle’s slimline
battery pack below the floor in a perfectly
flat array to provide the Model S with the under-car
airflow and aerodynamics more commonly
associated with a race vehicle – while
maximising the occupancy space above (the
vehicle can seat up to seven passengers).
Advertisement
The battery pack – a high-performance aluminium
structure in its own right – when married
to the state-of-the-art aluminium body
structure, according to Tesla engineers, becomes
three times stiffer.
Tesla Motors’ new aluminium intensive Model S saloon …
… pioneers performance, economy and safety
The body shell itself is aluminium space frame
architecture comprising castings, extrusions
and stampings. Cast cross members and aluminium
extrusions in the front-end crumple
zone, unhindered by the presence of a gasoline
engine, are designed to maximise impact
absorption in the event of a crash. (Model S is
engineered with the intent of achieving 2012
five-star NHTSA safety ratings.)
Tesla’s rear multilink suspension – unique
to the Model S – is made from lightweight
but exceptionally rigid extruded aluminium,
helping the vehicle to achieve sportscar-like
ride and handling performance, including acceleration
to 96 km/hr (60 mph) in a swift and
silent 4.4 sec.
Tesla Motors has purchased the former
NUMMI factory in Fremont, California, where
it will build the Model S sedan and future
Tesla vehicles. As recently as April 2010,
this factory was used by Toyota to produce
the Corolla and Tacoma vehicles using the
industry-leading Toyota production system.
It is claimed to be one of the largest, most advanced
and cleanest automotive production
plants in the world. The factory is located in
the city of Fremont near Northern California’s
Silicon Valley, very close to Tesla’s Palo Alto
headquarters. The company claims best-inclass
engineers can be recruited in the high
tech area and the short distance also ensures
a tight feedback loop between engineering,
manufacturing and other Tesla divisions.
Ken Stanford, contributing editor
© Tesla
ALUMINIUM · 1-2/2013 91