Tesla Motors Uses MathWorks Tools for Model-Based Design to Develop World’s First Electric Production Sports Car

Detailed Simulations from MathWorks Modeling Tools Enable Engineers to Evaluate Design Tradeoffs of Groundbreaking Concept Vehicle

DETROIT - The MathWorks today announced that Silicon Valley electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors employed Model-Based Design tools from The MathWorks to develop the 2008 Tesla Roadster, the world’s first electric production sports car.

To meet aggressive technology goals on a strict budget and timeline, the Tesla Motors design team relied on Simulink and MATLAB to model the entire vehicle and its major subsystems. Engineers combined individual models for each major system of the car, including the motor, battery, transmission, brakes, tires, power electronics, and control systems, into one full-system model, which they used to simulate and predict overall vehicle performance before building prototype vehicles. The simulated results were then compared against road-test results from prototype vehicles to refine the full-system model. This approach shortened overall design and test processes and helped Tesla Motors to deliver the 2008 Tesla Roadster for a fraction of the typical vehicle program cost.

“Because our budget is tiny in comparison to that of traditional car companies, it was critical to optimize engineering resources and make smarter design decisions that would result in a vehicle that is fast, safe, and energy-efficient,” said Paul Lomangino, PhD., Roadster Program Manager and CAD/PDM Technology Manager at Tesla Motors. “Determining just one single configuration such as the powertrain would have taken years and been prohibitively expensive without Model-Based Design. We will continue to rely on MATLAB and Simulink from The MathWorks.”

“The Tesla Roadster demonstrates the important link between simulation and validation in the design process,” said Jon Friedman, automotive industry marketing manager at The MathWorks. “It is exciting for MathWorks tools to be a part of an industry first – helping Tesla Motors deliver the 2008 Roadster and to accomplish this on time and within a very limited budget.”