Tesla improves EV safety based on real-life crash data, not tests

Tesla has revealed its approach to car safety improvement. Apparently, the company collects data from hundreds of thousands of electric cars driven worldwide and interpolates that to come up with smart safety measures.

Most of the company’s cars come equipped with an advanced cruise control system that the manufacturer insists on calling ‘autopilot’. The sensors that it incorporates enable reconstructing the timeline of the accident with high precision. Video cameras also help to identify the most common road accidents.

This enables safety experts to design innovative solutions based on real-life experience gathered from all countries where Tesla cars are being driven, and optimize electronics to react properly to any unforeseen event.

Take airbag inflation, for example. The system takes into consideration the current adjustments of the seat (height, reclined angle etc.) and the poses of the driver and the passenger. Based on it, it can decide which way to inflate the bag for the best results.

The company goes as far as to claim that standard crash test protocols adopted worldwide are like grains of sand in a desert: they are unable, by definition, to imitate the whole range of road accidents in an efficient way, yet they pretend to be all-encompassing and representative. Tesla, in contrast, uses real-life data to minimize injuries and fatalities in a more flexible, smart, and modern way.