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January 28, 2008
Tesla Catches a Break on Airbag Regs
By Jen
Editor
Tesla’s rocky production schedule for its beleaguered all-electric roadster got a boost today, when the company received a three-year waiver for an airbag rule that would’ve barred it from selling vehicles in the US. The red tape, which requires that all new cars be equipped with variable-deployment bags that can sense when the passenger is a child, would have presented a significant stumbling block for the company, which would have been required to develop them from scratch—the Lotus Elise, on whose platform the Tesla is built, doesn’t have the "smart" airbags either. While a significant number of children’s airbag injuries could be prevented by simply not having airbags, the NHTSA isn’t about to offer Tesla, or the public, a workaround as simple as a manual airbag shut-off switch—those ever-reliable sensors just keep things so much more interesting. Full story at freep.
Comments
RICO Laws
Jan 30, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Okay. I love it. Except for the 2 speed clutchless manual. What is that? Make me one with a real 6 sp and a clutch but keep the high redline.
mike
Jan 30, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Feliz305- I guess you don’t know the maker of the Tesla is. If you did, he can afford any exotic car out there. He is worth almost a billion dollars.
He built this car because he can.
Nismoke
Jan 30, 2008 at 12:22 am
I hate airbags.i prefer seatbelt only.it doesnt slap you in the face
Feliz305
Jan 29, 2008 at 9:15 pm
the maker of this car wanted a ferrari enzo but they wouldn’t give him one so he created his own car that would compete against the enzo. that little cars fasssst.
retroman
Jan 29, 2008 at 1:53 am
Ever reliable sensor?? Maybe, electronics on cars don’t fail as much as they used too. I sure hope not. My only wreck was due to a faulty MAP sensor that quit at a very bad time. Long story, but it wasn’t any fun.
Ted
Jan 29, 2008 at 1:46 am
No big deal. Worried about the DS airbag? Find the circuit and install a switch if they don’t provide one.
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Good thing they got past that requirement with a waiver, but Lotus should have the common sense to develope speed sensitive airbags, not Tesla. With so many other auto companies having already done so, what the @&2&%& are they waiting for? Are they trying to cut costs? Getting cheap on passenger safety on $50,000+ cars?