Tire Blowout - Safety Benefit of Tri-Motor vs Dual Motor

[Cybertrock]

Great!

Something else to worry about. 🫤

Sponsored

 

[Griswold]

We are planning on buying another EV SUV or EV truck that will replace our Sequoia. We looked at the Model X, but it is too small and does not have the cargo space needed. We want a Tesla, especially with all its features like FSD. We love driving the Cybertruck, and it would nicely fit our cargo needs. A CyberSUV would be ideal!

While researching motors (dual vs tri), I recently came across a YouTube video showing a Rivian R1T having a front right tire blowout on the highway. The Rvian had quad motors, and the blowout did not cause it to extremely pull off the highway as what happens frequently on ICE vehicles.

The purpose of the video was to educate about the safety benefits of multiple motors on EVs. According to the video and my research after Googling, when it comes to tire blowout safety, the rankings from safest to poorest vehicles are ones with quad motors, tri-motors, dual motors, ICE 4-wheel drive.

We are now considering buying a CyberBeast with tri-motors instead of the Cybertruck dual motor model.

Has anyone experienced a tire blowout while driving on the highway with either model?

Sorry about the long first post. I just wanted to give some background.

Why not go with the R1T quad motor? If you go with the Cyberbeast you will be jeopardizing safety by that logic.

 

[CodeSection]

Why not go with the R1T quad motor? If you go with the Cyberbeast you will be jeopardizing safety by that logic.

Good question! For starters, the Rivian R1T and R1S do not have FSD, the larger vehicle size, and cargo storage we are looking for as compared to the CT. Considering a couple of safety features only, I feel having CT's FSD in a tri-motor or dual motor configuration would be safer than a Rivian that does not have FSD, but has quad motors.

So, yes, there is a trade-off in the number of motors, but I believe FSD far exceeds any extra benefit that the 4th motor would bring.

Thanks for asking!

 

[Griswold]

Good question! For starters, the Rivian R1T and R1S do not have FSD, the larger vehicle size, and cargo storage we are looking for as compared to the CT. Considering a couple of safety features only, I feel having CT's FSD in a tri-motor or dual motor configuration would be safer than a Rivian that does not have FSD, but has quad motors.

So, yes, there is a trade-off in the number of motors, but I believe FSD far exceeds any extra benefit that the 4th motor would bring.

Thanks for asking!

I was thinking maybe this is a problem FSD can solve, and it probably is, but then there are times when FSD in itself is more dangerous. One has to learn where FSD is beneficial and when you simply can't trust it enough.

One small thing FSD could adapt to is avoiding potholes and objects that might cause the situation in the first place.

 

[dpoll995]

I will loose zero sleep over worrying about a blowout on my AwD. Only ever had one in my life. Bought an old ass car that had rotted tires that had no business being on the road to begin with. It wasn’t bad either, I immediately knew what happened and pulled over. Just keep up with tire maintenance and you’ll be fine.

 

[CodeSection]

I will loose zero sleep over worrying about a blowout on my AwD. Only ever had one in my life. Bought an old ass car that had rotted tires that had no business being on the road to begin with. It wasn’t bad either, I immediately knew what happened and pulled over. Just keep up with tire maintenance and you’ll be fine.

Thanks for sharing your experience! As others, along with you, have written, I'm probably overthinking and giving too much weight to the subject matter.

Still, if there is a measurable difference in safety, that would be a benefit. I wonder how effective the CT's low tire pressure sensor, or whatever sensor is responsible for balancing out power to the wheels, especially to the tire blowout side, is with either model?

 

[Nexus6]

You would need to be always in beast mode to take advantage of what you’re saying, I mostly drive in chill as it’s easier to keep steady speed. When in beast mode I find my self creeping 15-20 over randomly.

I’m the opposite, when I hand drive it’s always in Beast mode because that’s the reason I bought it. Makes driving fun again. When I’m on the Highway, I’m always using FSD, so I guess I’m in Chill Mode. Doesn’t it step down into chill mode automatically in FSD? I’ll have to check today.

 

[BeachDweller]

Ah, I never knew that. I will mostly be driving roughly 82 mph on cruise control and will be traveling from roughly 1100 feet in elevation to over 7200 feet in elevation, and then settling in at 5300 feet in elevation when driving from AZ to CO.

I would imagine efficiency will go down in beast mode as compared to chill mode. Have you measured the efficiency differences when driving in both modes?

Oohh.
You need to reconsider your planned speed.
A CyberTruck is basically a big brick to try to push through the air. And efficiency drops drastically as speed increases. So your charging stops may be frequent!
Have you checked the Tesla app for charging stations? That, or ABRP, can tell you when you’ll need to charge.

 

[CodeSection]

I’m the opposite, when I hand drive it’s always in Beast mode because that’s the reason I bought it. Makes driving fun again. When I’m on the Highway, I’m always using FSD, so I guess I’m in Chill Mode. Doesn’t it step down into chill mode automatically in FSD? I’ll have to check today.

I appreciate the posting! I assumed that if you were in Beast mode, then it would stay in Beast mode when using FSD.

If it doesn't stay in Beast mode when using FSD, then that settles it, as I would use FSD as much as possible, especially when driving on long trips. Thus, if it goes into Chill mode when using FSD, then the dual motor will give the same safety results, correct?

Please post back your findings. Thanks.

 

[NunyaBidness]

1. Tri-motor has the third motor in the back anyway. The front axel is pretty much identical to the AWD.
2. Tri-motor is fair bit louder (I only drove it while my AWD was getting serviced.)
3. I've been driving for 35 years and only had one blowout and that was when I was 17 and struggling to keep a POS car with even worse tires on the road with zero money for maintenance. The tires were bald and had plugs in them already.

If you want a Cyberbeast go for it, but any advantage in this situation is so marginal as to be irrelevant.

 

[FL370]

I would be surprised if you would notice any difference at all. Never had a blowout on the CT but did blow a tire on a 6000 lbs trailer. The CT did awesome. No steering problems at all.

 

[CodeSection]

Oohh.
You need to reconsider your planned speed.
A CyberTruck is basically a big brick to try to push through the air. And efficiency drops drastically as speed increases. So your charging stops may be frequent!
Have you checked the Tesla app for charging stations? That, or ABRP, can tell you when you’ll need to charge.

Thanks for commenting! I have Tesla's app and have our Kia EV9 listed in it. I don't believe I can add a Cybertruck to it without owning one and providing its VIN, etc. If you know another way to add it, please let me know.

I realize there is an efficiency issue due to the speed, the size, and the shape of it. I use the ABRP's paid version with our Kia EV9, and it is amazingly accurate. The cargo area, even with the third row seats down, on the Kia EV9 is too small when we travel long distances.....everything is packed in tightly.

Our Sequoia is spacious and features a generous cargo area. It rides higher, and we feel much safer in it compared to the Kia EV9. The EV9 was replacing the Xterra.

When I entered in ABRP the same data, 110% speed ~ 82.5 mph and max speed 85 mph, extra vehicle weight +450 lbs, different vehicles, etc., and going up from a lower elevation in AZ to a higher elevation in CO, I got the following results:
Kia EV9 927 mi in 14 hours, 57 minutes, with 6 stops and using 485.6 kWh
Cybertruck AWD 920 mi in 15 hours, 3 minutes, with 6 stops and using 514.2 kWh
CyberBeast (Alpha) 928 mi in 15 hours, 39 minutes, with 7 stops and using 564.9 kWh

I do not know how Tesla's navigation accuracy is, but as mentioned, ABRP is very accurate. As you are probably aware, you can customize ABRP with your specific vehicle details, along with weight, speed, etc. Thus, I should be able to tune in and optimize how many charging stops I will need at the desired speed.

Thanks for reaching out with your suggestions!

 

[CodeSection]

1. Tri-motor has the third motor in the back anyway. The front axel is pretty much identical to the AWD.
2. Tri-motor is fair bit louder (I only drove it while my AWD was getting serviced.)
3. I've been driving for 35 years and only had one blowout and that was when I was 17 and struggling to keep a POS car with even worse tires on the road with zero money for maintenance. The tires were bald and had plugs in them already.

If you want a Cyberbeast go for it, but any advantage in this situation is so marginal as to be irrelevant.

Thanks for commenting! I'm starting to realize and learn from owners like yourself that the third motor may not be that relevant in a safety sense.

 

[CodeSection]

I would be surprised if you would notice any difference at all. Never had a blowout on the CT but did blow a tire on a 6000 lbs trailer. The CT did awesome. No steering problems at all.

Thanks for sharing your experience and picture! That's great to read that the CT did awesome with no steering problems. I would have thought that the blowout on the trailer would have been difficult to control and would have increased the chance of fishtailing.

Was the CT using FSD when the blowout occurred?

 

[mongo]

Thanks for sharing your experience and picture! That's great to read that the CT did awesome with no steering problems. I would have thought that the blowout on the trailer would have been difficult to control and would have increased the chance of fishtailing.

Was the CT using FSD when the blowout occurred?

FSD is disabled when towing or when the tailgate is down.

Sponsored