In Tesla's underground research institute, senior executives saw a new car body. This car body was not painted, and the material could be seen at a glance.
"Is this a balsa wood body? How strong is it?"
Looking at this car body, a senior executive couldn't help but ask. He had long known that researchers were studying balsa wood car bodies, but he had always been skeptical about this research.
In his mind, wood is just wood, and its strength cannot be compared with metal. Not only did he have doubts, but other senior executives also had doubts.
"Everyone, please let me come."
A researcher took them directly into the internal laboratory. In the internal laboratory, there were many balsa wood parts and experimental equipment.
"Everyone, these are two doors, this one is a light wood door, and this one is the all-aluminum door we use on our current models."
There were two car doors on an experimental bench, and the senior executives looked at these two doors curiously.
The car doors were not painted and were in their most original condition. The executives knocked on the car door out of curiosity and had two different feelings.
The metal car door makes a crisp sound when you knock it up, and it clearly feels empty inside. But the balsa wood car door feels a bit dull when you knock it up, as if it is new.
I picked up the two car doors with my hands and compared them. The light wood door was obviously much lighter than the metal door.
The appearance is almost the same, but the weight is much lighter. Under everyone's puzzled eyes, the experimenters began to conduct various experiments on the two doors.
The crash test began. When the two doors were impacted with the same force, the performance of the two doors made everyone's eyes widen.
The entrance and exit doors were severely deformed by a direct collision, while the balsa wood doors were only slightly deformed. This result made everyone's eyes widen.
After the collision, the fire resistance test was conducted. Under high-temperature flames, although the all-aluminum door did not deform, the temperature was very high.
But the balsa wood car door was surprisingly unburnable on the surface. The temperature inside and outside was extremely high. The flames burned fiercely outside, but I couldn't feel the temperature change at all inside.
After a series of experimental techniques, everyone stared at the balsa wood door with wide eyes. They are all knowledgeable people, so they naturally know what this means. For cars, weight reduction has always been what major manufacturers are working hard to do.
matter.
The lighter the car, the lower the energy consumption. For electric vehicles, the lighter the car, the longer the range. This is a very simple truth.
"Why is this happening?"
A senior executive couldn't help but ask, he really couldn't figure out why the wooden car door was stronger than metal.
"Mr. Wu, in fact, this is not ordinary wood. This wood is balsa wood. After we beat this wood into sawdust, we performed special processing, mixed it with special adhesive, and then printed it directly through 3D printing."
The researchers directly took out a cross-section of a car door. Through the cross-section, you can see the internal structure. The two sides of the door look solid. But the middle is like a honeycomb, densely packed with stuffing that looks like it.
"Special stamping technology is used on both sides. With this technology, the elasticity and stiffness of this balsa wood door are more than twice that of our existing aluminum alloy doors. A honeycomb airbag structure is used in the middle, and the interior is filled with inert gas.
Not only can the elasticity and toughness of the door be increased again, but it also has the effect of thermal insulation and sound insulation."
After the introduction, they finally learned about the magic of balsa wood doors. This kind of door weighs only one-third of that of aluminum alloy doors.
Nowadays, among global car manufacturers, only luxury brands use aluminum alloy doors. Ordinary models are stamped with steel plates, which are heavier.
The mass is only one-third, but the strength and toughness are more than twice that of aluminum alloy. The special adhesive is not only environmentally friendly, but also has flame retardant function. The inert gas inside the door can not only isolate the temperature, but also provide stronger sound insulation
Effectively, this thing is much more powerful than soundproofing cotton.
Wooden car doors and wooden body. At the research institute, they saw a prototype car. Many parts of the entire prototype car were made of balsa wood, and only a few parts of the entire car were made of metal.
The entire main body frame is made of aluminum alloy and balsa wood. This process is currently only used in private airships. Now the technology is directly applied to cars.
The frame of this hybrid technology has doubled the strength and elasticity of the body and reduced the weight by half. Compared with the original car, the prototype using this technology has reduced the weight by one-fifth.
"This is the Tesla 9 Series we made using a new process. Compared with the models currently on sale, this car has lost 300kg in weight."
When they came to the prototype car, the executives saw this Tesla 9 Series. The Tesla 9 Series is a standard D-class car and a representative of Tesla luxury. It is currently the highest-selling luxury D-class car in the world.
After carefully studying this 9 Series, someone quickly discovered the difference. Whether it is the top, trunk or hood, it is much thicker than metal. It makes a dull sound when knocked on it.
"This 9 Series is reinforced as a whole. Balsa wood is light in weight, so we increased the thickness of the entire cabin a lot, which also greatly increased safety. The front and rear of the car were especially strengthened."
When you open the car, you can see that the anti-collision steel beams at the front and rear of the car are different from the previous ones. They used to be metal anti-collision beams.
Now it has been replaced with balsa wood and metal. The thickness has been greatly increased. The thickness of the entire anti-collision beam is a full 30 centimeters. Even if this exaggerated anti-collision beam is broken, it is not much better than a truck.
In the safety laboratory, a balsa wood 9 Series began to undergo a series of crash tests. The results were blinding. The previous 9 Series was impressive enough, but now the new 9 Series is as safe as a specially customized bulletproof vehicle.
"Have the durability tests been conducted?"
a senior executive asked.
"The team has already set off, but it will take half a year to complete the full test."
The researchers said seriously that the balsa wood body is a technological change, so the strictest attitude must be adopted in all aspects, such as safety, durability, etc.
Only when all acceptance checks are completed can it be officially released. But judging from the current status, it is performing very well.
It's time for the 9 Series to be replaced. The new generation of the 9 Series will use a balsa wood body, and the performance of the 9 Series will be improved again with a weight reduction of 300 kilograms. By then, the 9 Series' dominance of luxury cars will be unrivaled.
Now Tesla has confirmed its position as the dominant luxury brand. It is also the most profitable brand in the Tesla Group. As a biological son, Tesla naturally has the best treatment and is the first to apply the most powerful technologies.
He maintains a generation-leading technological advantage, which is Tesla's internal consensus and where Tesla's confidence lies.