Watch the Tesla Model S Fail to Ace Its Latest Crash Test

[Narrator] Good thing Elon Musk can distract himself

launching rockets and digging tunnels

because the tech titan's other baby, Tesla,

is having a rough week.

(car crashing)

Amid concerns it won't hit production goals

for its mass market Model 3,

Tesla saw its stock price fall 20% in just a few days.

And then, Elon's week got even worse

when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

announced the Tesla Model S

had failed to earn its best rating, the Top Safety Pick.

The electric sedan did take top marks

in four of the five crash tests,

but scored a disappointing acceptable

in what the IIHS calls small overlap front test.

That's the safety organization newest exam,

which it created to make people safer

in frontal collisions where the car hits a rigid barrier

at 40 miles an hour, but not directly head-on.

The IIHS estimates that this kind of crash

actually accounts for 25% of frontal collisions

where someone gets severely injured or even killed.

The name of the game here is keeping the crash

and its energy away from its passengers.

Unfortunately for Tesla, testing the Model S

showed the front wheel and suspension

could intrude into the cockpit.

Since its 2012 introduction,

this test has actually flunked all kinds of cars

from the Dodge Charger to the Chevy Silverado.

So now it's up to the engineers to reconfigure

how the Model S stands up to smashing,

or you can just hope Tesla's autopilot system

keeps you out of any crashes in the first place.

(electronic music)