Back in March, we revealed how pro-Tesla blogs identified a substantial design flaw with Elon Musk’s Model 3.
The Model 3, which became infamous for having its bumpers fall off, was found to have a design flaw in its underbody that causes the car to trap and retain dirt, water and sand from roadways, according to electrek, who in March published an article detailing the flaw.
The blog pointed out that Tesla has “often been accused of designing cars for the Californian climate” and that water, dirt and sand used to de-ice roads in colder climates are susceptible to getting trapped in the underbody of Model 3 cars.
Posted in Feburary, Eric Bolduc, who owns a body shop in Quebec found significant amounts of sand and dirt accumulating in the underbody panel at the back of every Model 3 he has worked on so far.
There’s even a striking video of him removing sand and dirt stuck inside of a Model 3 before working on the car. The video shows him approach the vehicle, repeatedly tap the underbody of the vehicle with a mallet, and then watch what appears to be an avalanche of sand and dirt fall out from a Model 3 on a lift.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0F3AuZwOTE?start=31]
This mechanic has worked on about 25 Model 3 vehicles and he says that he always finds about 10 to 20 pounds of sand and dirt stuck in the panel, due to what he believes is a lack of proper drainage. In one case, he extracted over 35 pounds of dirt from the underbody of a Model 3. He believes that the dirt is coming from behind one of the wheels.
Another video detailing the design flaw was published on July 2nd by YouTube account Dirty Telsa.
This Model 3 owner in the video, while servicing his car at 15,000 miles in his driveway, discovered about 15 pounds of dirt in the undercarriage.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj78E1dArdI?start=560]
Of course, it is normal for dirt to get in the underbody of any vehicle, but the panel generally has more drainage to allow dirt and water to exit quicker.
And the lack of drainage could explain the back bumper falling off of Model 3s after heavy rain.
So far, not to our knowledge, Tesla hasn’t provided a fix to the serious design flaw. We wonder if there’s an “over-the-air” update for this?
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