The electronics are a big part, but a lot cars are totalled because any damage to most of the high strength steels require parts replacement.
Back in the day with mild steel only, the body shop could pull the car back into spec, heat the frame during the pull, and collision repair was a lot cheaper. But the crash safety was nowhere near as good.
Repairability - crash safety - light weight: pick any two.
Back in the day with mild steel only, the body shop could pull the car back into spec, heat the frame during the pull, and collision repair was a lot cheaper. But the crash safety was nowhere near as good.
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Yes, and the “unibody” approach of molding the undercarriage into the sheet metal of the body has been a main contributor, causing the totaling out of a car.