Air mattress for Model S

[billatkinson]

I found a great solution for sleeping in the back of my Model S.

The full size Coleman Quickbed and Quickpump work much better than the foam futon I first tried. The mostly-inflated airbed makes up for the second row of seats not folding completely flat. You don’t have to move the front seats forward to fit the mattress, so one person can sleep while the other drives. The Quickpump inflates or deflates the mattress in about a minute, and they both store compactly in the well behind the left rear wheel. I also bought a 12V extension cord since the pump cord is only 6 feet long and it needs to reach the 12V outlet in the center console. Both mattress and pump are available from Amazon at:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0741W2B5F

 

[Phillip L]

So how far have you taken your Model S? That allows serious non-stop (except for charging) driving by two people! Are there seatbelt laws in California that would penalize this?

 

[billatkinson]

So how far have you taken your Model S? That allows serious non-stop (except for charging) driving by two people! Are there seatbelt laws in California that would penalize this?

We drove 600 miles each way from San Jose, California to Madras, Oregon to witness the solar eclipse. Much of the time on the way back my girlfriend was asleep in the back while I babysat the enhanced autopilot. There are seatbelt laws in California, but nobody bothered us. Since she was under a blanket, it was not obvious that anyone was in the back. I was wearing my seatbelt in the driver seat. In terms of actual safety, as opposed to legality, since the mattress tilts up toward the front, and the front headrests act as barriers, she would have been pretty safe even if I had slammed on the brakes. She would not have been thrown through the windshield.

 

[mazeminder]

since the mattress tilts up toward the front

I noticed this in your photos. How comfortable/noticeable is the upwards tilt when you're sleeping?

 

[clostridium]

We drove 600 miles each way from San Jose, California to Madras, Oregon to witness the solar eclipse. Much of the time on the way back my girlfriend was asleep in the back while I babysat the enhanced autopilot. There are seatbelt laws in California, but nobody bothered us. Since she was under a blanket, it was not obvious that anyone was in the back. I was wearing my seatbelt in the driver seat. In terms of actual safety, as opposed to legality, since the mattress tilts up toward the front, and the front headrests act as barriers, she would have been pretty safe even if I had slammed on the brakes. She would not have been thrown through the windshield.

If you'd gotten in any sort of significant crash she'd be hosed though and at high risk of being ejected. The safe car doesn't do much good in that scenario. Furthermore your risk of serious injury would go up too based on the data on crashes with unrestrained passengers.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Definitely not safe to drive and sleep in inflatable mattress. Just count yourself lucky not to be caught in a head on collision. The gf would have a least a broken neck or similar from her sliding forward towards the back of the front seats.

 

[hpartsch]

And her family might even sue you for driving and allowing such behavior to occur while you were driving (if something bad were to happen)...Too risky for me!

 

[Phillip L]

All that being said. I have tried to sleep in the back seat while at a level 2 charger (the hotel in town with a charger was full) at a town park and it was hard to get comfortable. Would have liked to have his set up.

 

[clostridium]

All that being said. I have tried to sleep in the back seat while at a level 2 charger (the hotel in town with a charger was full) at a town park and it was hard to get comfortable. Would have liked to have his set up.

His setup sounds good and I'm glad he shared it. Affordable and stores away easily based on the pics.

 

[MarcusMaximus]

I did something similar, but with a queen size air mattress, recently. Because of my height(I'm 6'5"), sleeping that way wasn't working. My head fell down between the front and back seats. Sleeping the other way(head towards the back) worked pretty well, though it was hard to get good air circulation back there.

 

[gabeincal]

So with this setup, the ridge between the trunk and the 2nd row seats is not detectable at all? I was going to carve some sort of plywood or foam to prevent the ridge sticking into our backs, but if this air mattress solves it all, then it's a win-win. And yes, as tempting it is, I wouldn't do long drives with somebody sleeping unbuckled...

 

[JohnnyG]

Thanks to the OP for the photos and link!

@gabeincal - I traveled this way last week for the solar eclipse (810 miles total). Of course there were no hotels/motels available anywhere. The air mattress completely made the ridge undetectable. I do recommend getting the sun shades I've seen someone makes to pop in all the windows of our car. The sun woke me way too early, and to be honest, I felt a little weird waking up knowing that others in the parking lot could see me sleeping in there.

 

[outdoors]

Just put my set up in today as shown in first post. I did put a few other Thermarests to provide a little more level. I am 6'2". I could not imagine sleeping in any direction other than front of car based on initial laydown. One would have to consider mattress pad or covering unless you like sleeping on the textured vinyl fabric simulator. Then blanket /comforter. I think that starts to cramp up the area in the rear a bit. I think it's a great item to store in the back cubby for quick night sleep, and with it maybe a down sleeping bag/quilt. Long travels as in car camping...... Not so much. Great small compact size, but where do you plan on putting anything else in the car while inflated? Front seat and passenger side? I have done that dog and pony show in other cars and it isn't that fun. Playing musical chairs with bags and things stored under the seats. Getting dressed horizontally. Oh $#&* I left it in the frunk. Two people with this setup...... Well only one would survive. As other threads have said. Setting up a tent might be the best idea for all the trouble, not to mention the wear and tear of turning the car into a campsite.

All above being said haphazardly. I would recommend for one person for rest stops and in frequent overnight adventures. Let it air out for a couple days inflated before first use. The chemical smell would be far from what I would describe as new car smell.

 

[JohnnyG]

Just put my set up in today as shown in first post. I did put a few other Thermarests to provide a little more level. I am 6'2". I could not imagine sleeping in any direction other than front of car based on initial laydown. One would have to consider mattress pad or covering unless you like sleeping on the textured vinyl fabric simulator. Then blanket /comforter. I think that starts to cramp up the area in the rear a bit. I think it's a great item to store in the back cubby for quick night sleep, and with it maybe a down sleeping bag/quilt. Long travels as in car camping...... Not so much. Great small compact size, but where do you plan on putting anything else in the car while inflated? Front seat and passenger side? I have done that dog and pony show in other cars and it isn't that fun. Playing musical chairs with bags and things stored under the seats. Getting dressed horizontally. Oh $#&* I left it in the frunk. Two people with this setup...... Well only one would survive. As other threads have said. Setting up a tent might be the best idea for all the trouble, not to mention the wear and tear of turning the car into a campsite.

All above being said haphazardly. I would recommend for one person for rest stops and in frequent overnight adventures. Let it air out for a couple days inflated before first use. The chemical smell would be far from what I would describe as new car smell.

I have a pre-facelift, so a little more room in the frunk. It was two people, two nights. All of our stuff fit in the cubby under the trunk, and in the frunk. Anything that was on the backseats, very easily just slid forward onto the floor and fit there very comfortably with the rear seats folded down. There's a ton of room under the rear seats when folded down. We didn't need anything that was in the cubby under the trunk while we slept. The climate control was left on, so we didn't waken sticky and gross. When we awoke, we just grabbed our backpacks from the frunk and walked into the restaurant which has a locking family bathroom. We freshened-up and changed clothes and felt refreshed.

As I mentioned earlier, if you are going to do this even semi-regularly, I'd recommend getting the full set of pop-in window shades.
We had thought about going to a camp grounds or truck stop to shower, but with the climate control on, just freshening-up in the bathroom was fine.

All that said, this was my first time "Tesla Camping", and probably won't do it often, but in a pinch as we were in, it worked very well.

 

[MarcusMaximus]

Two people with this setup...... Well only one would survive.

Ha, I did 3, actually, though one of the people was my three year old. It was pretty damn cramped, though, with both my wife and I having to sleep on our sides. With just me and my wife, we can fit with both of us flat on our backs without much of a problem.

 

[gabeincal]

Ha, I did 3, actually, though one of the people was my three year old. It was pretty damn cramped, though, with both my wife and I having to sleep on our sides. With just me and my wife, we can fit with both of us flat on our backs without much of a problem.

We did 2 nights on a foam mattress: 2 of us and 2 small dogs. It was cramped, but honestly, I'd prefer this than setting up a tarp, tent, air mattress, etc. At least you get temp control, solid protection around you from the world and quietness if you want..

 

[David99]

True Tesla fans! Having the car keep the air temperature constant and being safe and quiet definitely beats a tent. With the Dashboard for Tesla app you can be connected to a charger and have the HVAC working all night. One night is fine, then you need a shower, sooner or later

 

[dgpcolorado]

I used a folded up bedspread to level the rear seat hump and an air mattress on top of that. Put it in diagonally to get a bit of extra length. Head forward and I didn't have any length problems but I'm not as tall as some here. My tent has more headroom and takes only ten minutes to set up — no stakes needed — so I prefer that to sleeping in the car.

 

[doug]

Btw, this topic has been covered with several options over the years here: Best mattresses for Model S

 

[David99]

Btw, this topic has been covered with several options over the years here: Best mattresses for Model S

I remembered that thread as soon as I saw this one.