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Tesla patents novel hood hinge that optimizes pedestrian safety during collisions
Tesla’s electric cars are known for being extremely quick, and they are also known for being extremely safe. The Model 3, the company’s most affordable car to date, for example, has aced safety ratings across the globe, earning a 5-Star rating from the NHTSA in the US, the Euro NCAP in Europe, and the ANCAP in Australia. Even the IIHS gave the Tesla Model 3 its highest rating, Top Safety Pick+.
But this is Tesla, and the electric car maker is known for being a company that refuses to stay still. Its cars are already quick enough to give passengers serious Gs while launching, yet the company remains hard at work on making them even quicker and more visceral in terms of speed (e.g. the Model S Plaid Powertrain). In the same light, while Teslas are already safe at their current state, it is no surprise that the company remains dedicated to finding ways to make its vehicles even safer, both for passengers in the cabin and for pedestrians on the road.
One such example of this was highlighted in a recently published patent that was simply titled “Hinge Assembly for a Vehicle Hood.” Based on the electric car maker’s discussion, the novel hinge assembly has the potential to protect pedestrians who happen to hit the vehicle’s hood during a collision. Similar systems are in place in vehicles today, though Tesla maintained that conventional designs have lots of areas for improvement.
“Modern vehicles are mandated by safety standards to protect pedestrians from head-impact injuries, including a scenario in which a pedestrian would contact the vehicle’s hood. To meet these requirements. Current state of the art safety systems are active systems that typically include a sensor system to detect a collision with pedestrian and fire (using a pyrotechnic) an actuator to lift the front hood into a protective position before pedestrian impact. However, such systems may be falsely triggered and can only be used once because the pyrotechnic is not reversible. The pyrotechnic is also expensive, adding to overall cost of the vehicle. Therefore, there is a need for a safety system that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks.”
Tesla noted in its patent’s description that its hinge assembly includes a body member and a hood member, with the latter being “pivotally coupled with a body member through a pivot pin.” In the event of a collision, a portion of the vehicle’s hood member or body member “deforms such that the hood member or body member disengages from the pivot pin.” This allows Tesla to use the hinge as a passive pedestrian safety system that does not require any additional components such as sensors or controllers. The design outlined in Tesla’s patent is also more practical than the pyrotechnic system used in conventional pedestrian impact safety systems.
Tesla describes how its hood hinge works in a collision in the following section.
“FIG. 6 illustrates impact of a headform 602 on hinge assembly 116. Headform 602 represents the head (or portion thereof) of a pedestrian or other living being. As illustrated, when a collision occurs such that headform 602 hits a portion of hood member 108 of vehicle 100 along direction of an axis X-X′, a force is generated. When the force is great enough, the impact force causes hood member 108 to disengage from hinge assembly 116. The impact force typically causes deformation of portion 314 of hood member 108 adjacent to notch 312 such that pivot pin 202 disengages with second opening 304 of hood member 108. In embodiments, the width W of notch 312 is altered to change the impact force at which the hood member 108 disengages from hood member 108. In embodiments the impact force causes deformation of the pivot pin 202 to allow disengagement of hood member 108 from body member 110.
“In an event of collision, hood member 108 may disengage with hinge assembly 116 such that safety standards can be met. Hood member 108 may move down due to impact force and disengagement with hinge assembly 116. To allow movement of hood member 108, sufficient space may be provided by trimming away portions of hood member 108 and body member 110. Advantageously, this would lower weight of components while maintaining the safety standards for vehicle 100.”
Tesla is a carmaker that will likely never stay still. Despite its significant lead in the electric car segment thanks to its vehicles’ batteries and powertrain, Tesla is in a continuous process of improvement. The hood hinge outlined in this patent might be quite simple, but it contributes to the overall safety of Tesla’s lineup of vehicles nonetheless. Such initiatives, if any, further prove that when it comes to safety, no part is too small for innovation — and in the event of a collision, it’s these factors that can make all the difference.
Tesla’s patent for its hinge assembly could be accessed below.
Tesla Hood Patent by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
A Tesla owner who purchased a Model S Signature Edition, one of the final 250 units of the all-electric flagship vehicle that the company discontinued earlier this year, is attempting to sell the car despite a no-resale clause that prohibits reselling for the first year.
The car is being sold by J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, and is priced at $260,490, well above the $159,420 that Tesla sold it for earlier this year.
🚨 The first Tesla Model S Signature Edition is up for sale for $260,490
Tesla placed a no-resale clause on the Model S and X Signature, so it will be interesting to see if the company takes any action. https://t.co/N9rKGHnbD6 pic.twitter.com/6FZhDL1KNR
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 14, 2026
To those who do not know, the Model S Signature was a highly exclusive, limited-run farewell variant of the Model S Plaid that was produced this year to mark the end of production of both the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s two flagship vehicles.
Limited to just 250 units with invite-only sales, it serves as a collector’s item celebrating the legacy of the Model S, which helped pioneer Tesla’s electric vehicle success since its 2012 launch.
It bundles top-tier performance with bespoke cosmetic and luxury upgrades, plus Tesla’s Luxe Package. Here’s what the Model S Signature has over the typical Model S Plaid:
- Exclusive Exterior – Unique Garnet Red Paint, matching door handles, gold Tesla “T” badges upfront, gold Plaid and Signature badging at the rear.
- Premium Interior – White Alcantara upholstery with gold piping/accents, gold Plaid seat badges, Signature-marked door sills, individually numbered dashboard plaque, gold puddle lights, special interior lighting sequence, and a custom Signature key fob.
- Performance Upgrades – Carbon-ceramic brakes with gold calipers
- Bundled Luxe Package – Full Self-Driving (Supervised), four years of Premium Connectivity, free lifetime Supercharging
- Performance Metrics – ~1,020 horsepower, sub-2-second 0-60 MPH, ~390-mile range
Tesla quickly introduced a No Resale Agreement for the Signature Editions of the Model S and Model X, which would penalize the seller for “the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.”
The company continues:
“If you sell or otherwise transfer the ownership of your Model S or Model X, the remainder of the Recommended Maintenance, Wheel and Tire Protection Plan, and Windshield Protection Plan will transfer automatically to the buyer. The Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity will not transfer with the vehicle and will terminate once the ownership of the Model S or Model X is transferred.”
Tesla will likely come after the seller, especially as it has been about two months since Tesla launched deliveries.
Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.5 yesterday, and about fifty miles of driving on the new version has given me enough time to highlight what seems to be strong about the release and what is not.
Additionally, Tesla has added a few new features with this specific update, which we’ll highlight as well.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Performance
The new update is business as usual. Things seem to be running completely normal and necessary, but there are a few things that we’ve seemed to pick up on based on our own experience with v14.3.5, as well as what other users are seeing.
Initially, it seems to be more aware of its surroundings, making moves that are incredibly courteous to other drives and operating just a tad more reserved than what the suite might have done previously.
We had two instances where it showed this, the first being FSD needing to pass a Flagger Force vehicle that was placing down signage for the day. Their work truck was right at the front corner of a right-hand turn; typically where most cars travel when they take that turn.
FSD v14.3.5 recognized this, slowed down, and took the turn wide with no issues:
🚨 Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 takes a wide turn as flagger crews set up signage for the day https://t.co/3v0PL9qhlI pic.twitter.com/i4CKqxE16c
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
Additionally, v14.3.5 backed up for a semi truck that was making a wide turn onto a road my car was on. This is not new, but it seemed to be backing up for courtesy; it didn’t seem completely necessary, but it might have put some peace of mind in the truck driver’s head:
🚨 Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 backs up for an oncoming tractor trailer taking a wide turn https://t.co/0WuAqNMpRR pic.twitter.com/s6yZGVm5Te
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
X user Mike P, also a Pennsylvania native like myself, shared three clips of his Tesla running v14.3.5 performing similar maneuvers. He said:
“FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.”
Check it out here:
Rapidfire epic moments on FSD V14.3.5
1) FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.
2) Insane speed to vehicle cues. As FSD approaches… pic.twitter.com/bSnySSlFHR
— Mike P (@mikepat711) July 13, 2026
It seems like Speed Profiles are still in need of some tweaking; I am adjusting what Speed Profile I’m in frequently, constantly changing it to get it to travel at the correct speed. This was an issue for me on v14.3.4. It seems like they’re just a little inconsistent.
Terrible Parking
Parking attempts on v14.3.5 were not good. There are quite a few people who have said this:
Yeah it seems like FSD v14.3.5 is having some issues with parking early on https://t.co/Bw5ULfVmDq pic.twitter.com/RHdpjOEpIo
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
David Moss, the Tesla owner who has taken multiple coast-to-coast drives without any interventions, also has had some issues with parking early on with v14.3.5:
Horrible first impression v14.3.5 on my 2025 Tesla Model 3 LR RWD Premium 😭
3 terrible parking jobs in 23 min including parking on a ramp in a business park & parking perpendicular out in the road on street only parking situation.
Wish I had a better drive but I still believe… pic.twitter.com/TtyhRHAFG7
— David Moss (@DavidMoss) July 13, 2026
New Features
Tesla has added the ability to open Camera Preview at any time. Previously, it was only available in Park. Here’s what that feature looks like in action:
🚨 Here’s the new Camera Preview feature on FSD v14.3.5 pic.twitter.com/OodfZgDppy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
Check back later this week for a longer review of what we’ve noticed on Full Self-Driving v14.3.5.
Lucid denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop
Tesla owner attempts resale of Model S Signature Edition for over $260k
