Tesla's powerful Torque Acceleration feature is not only for speed freaks. It has proved to come in as a handy safety feature as well. Recently, a Tesla owner, Daniel Spalding, uploaded a video to YouTube showing just how the electric vehicle’s acceleration saved him from being rear-ended while saving another car from expensive liability, or possibly even avoiding a serious accident.
Tesla’s electric vehicles depend on torque vectoring for power and output of the car’s performance, and in case, Daniel Spalding's Model 3 with its rear camera view provided an important safety feature. There are a lot of benefits to having a car with instant acceleration. A sudden sprint can come in super handy and super quickly. In the video from Spalding, he demonstrates, involuntarily, how he avoided a crash by a split second – all thanks to the Model 3’s torque.
Spalding has documented his Tesla experience in his YouTube channel, but his most recent upload had viewers on the edge of their seat. In the 14 second video, we see how traffic is building up, and then suddenly comes to a halt, bringing a fast-approaching car right up to the rear of Daniel’s car. Fortunately, the Tesla driver had his eye on his rearview, kept his wits about him, and with quick thinking, he accessed the vehicle’s full power by flooring the accelerator. In the video description, the Model 3 owner noted:
Traffic in front of me came to a sudden stop but the car behind me was not paying attention. As I saw them approaching without stopping, I floored the accelerator just in time.
As we can see, the car coming up behind him, which looked to be an Acura Integra, wasn’t paying attention. When Spalding realized the driver behind was not going to stop in time, he went Torque-mode and it gave him the instant distance he needed to prevent a collision.
In a comment on the TeslaMotors subreddit, Daniel Spalding described the incident:
I had seen videos like this before but this was my first time being in the situation. Traffic came to a standstill in front of me but the car behind me was distracted. I saw him not slowing down so I floored the accelerator since some space appeared in front of me. Looking at the video you can see it happened just in time to avoid being rear-ended by an inch.
Tesla’s Model 3 will accelerate to 100 km/h in as little as 3.5 seconds. In standard form, the rear-mounted electric motor that drives the rear wheels makes 221 horsepower and an estimated 302 lb-ft of torque. Model 3 comes with the option of a dual-motor all-wheel drive, 20” performance wheels, and brakes and lowered suspension for total control, in all weather conditions. And a carbon fiber spoiler that improves stability at high speeds.
That certainly turned out to be a saver from injury and cost.
Teslas are considered among the safest cars on the road, and Model 3 is not shy when it comes to safety features. But you cannot always rely on the vehicle to evade impacts with other structures or vehicles. It takes the driver’s attention, reflexes, and knowledge of the car to do what needs to be done. The Model 3 electric vehicle behaved as Spalding anticipated by going full power at a moment’s notice to escape harm.
Watch the footage from Spalding’s vehicle in the videos here.
