Tesla Up on End of Fed Investigation
Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) gained 4.5% to reach $216.72 on March 28, after federal safety regulators closed their investigation on the safety features of Model S, which was started after two car fires in the U.S. last year. The fires had raised safety concerns in the minds of many consumers and even affected the sales of the company.
However, Tesla took various measures to increase the safety of its cars, including a wireless update to increase the ground clearance of the car during high speed travel. Now the electric carmaker has further enhanced the safety of Model S by adding three layers of protection under the battery pack, which, according to Tesla, will reduce the safety risk due to any underbody impact to almost zero. This action resulted in the closure of the safety investigation against the company.
The first shield is a rounded, hollow aluminum bar which either deflects the object hitting the car from below, or absorbs the impact. The second layer is a titanium plate, which protects the front underbody components from road debris. The third shield is a shallow angle, solid aluminum extrusion that absorbs any remaining energy from the impact, provides another layer of deflection and makes the Model S ramp up over the object if it is not compressed or deflected.
These three shields are in addition to the steel and ceramic firewall that was already present between the battery pack and the passenger compartment of the car. Tesla has started adding the shields to all cars manufactured after March 6. The company will also fit the previously manufactured cars with the shields upon customers’ requests or during a normally scheduled servicing.
The protective shields will not affect the drag or lift of the car. Moreover, it will only affect the range by 0.1%.
Tesla currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Some other automobile stocks worth considering are Tata Motors Limited (TTM), Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) and Daimler AG (DDAIF). Tata Motors and Daimler sport a Zacks Rank #1, while Toyota holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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