That brake light looks quite cool. I'm wondering why it's not visible at 0:53" , when regenerative braking audibly kicks in (very cool!) and the side brake lights light up.
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Alpha Build
- Thread starter Kevin Harney
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- Model S
Tommy
Member
My hunch, when only the regenerative braking is engaged the side brake lights light up to give warning the vechicle is slowing down; when the mechcanical brake is engaged the 3rd brake light comes on. Very light regenrative braking probably won't trigger any brake lights, however as the driver uses more regererative braking the side brake lights light up and maybe even the 3rd brake light light up. I don't like folling someone who rides their brakes as it gives a false signal that the driver is really slowing down. Tesla is probably trying to eliminate with regenerative braking not triggering the 3rd brake light each time it is engaged.
That sounds pretty sophisticated and I agree that would be nice.
But to clarify, I am referring to the rear-lights' light-pipe effects (see my post on the previous page). I wish I could find the larger photos of the prototypes that showed the light-pipe rear lights. They looked amazing. The new brake lights (not the third light, but the right and left brake lights) are a little disappointing in their overly simplistic appearance.
I had noticed the same thing, and agree. We notice new Audi, Porsche, etc using that kind of lighting, so I was surprised to see that it appears to be gone on the Alpha.
Watch this video of the old demonstration prototype:
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Tommy
Member
They may not have eliminated them at all... they simply might not have been turned on (or even installed yet) for that video. I notice that the "brake light" core area is the same on the alpha as the prototype.
Yep! That's them. Thanks for finding some good photos.
I too am optimistic that their disappearance is not a matter of being removed from the planned design but simply not being ready for the Alpha.
I agree that may be the case, but wasn't the exterior finished in the Alpha stage? Or was that maybe just the aluminium frame and aluminium body? I agree the nose has to change as well as the lights looked better on the earlier prototype. Though I also really like the high brake light in the window.
Cobos
Tommy
Member
I, like many of you I am sure, took a snapshot of the Model S Alpha shown in the opening scene of Tesla's video of the alpha being driven to replace my previous desktop background photo of the prototype Model S. Much to my surprise, Tesla has released the "same" photo on their web site in their gallery section of the Model S. Except the photos are not the same; the "whiskers" have been extended and the hood line for the opening of the hood has been removed in the gallery photo. Both photos photo-shopped or real I don't know, but clearly the front end is still a work in progress.
Photos for your comparison:
View attachment 1361View attachment 1362
Photos for your comparison:
View attachment 1361View attachment 1362
Tommy
Member
Look at the lower left air intake; the two horizontal bars have been extended accross the entire opening. Look at the top 1/4 of the black nose; the nose is not a seperate section from the lower portion of the black nose, the nose is now one piece rather than two.
You really have to blow them both up to see the modifications.
The headlight change looks like a lens removal but it might just be a clean up.
The white band under the door got darker too.
And on the far left in the background behind the fence is Waldo
The headlight change looks like a lens removal but it might just be a clean up.
The white band under the door got darker too.
And on the far left in the background behind the fence is Waldo
jtibble
Tesla Evangelist
Hi Everybody!
I'm a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and we just had a trio of Tesla employees come visit to recruit new graduates. During the question-and-answer session, I asked if the nose of the final Model S was going to stay as that black plastic, and their emphatic reply was "NO". The engineer (who works in the brakes team) said that the Alpha car that was used to film the clip was assembled in an extreme rush (jokingly, he said they assembled it in a single day) and the video was shot entirely in one night, on Christmas Eve. He then said that the final, finished front would look really good, close to the original mock-up and show car. I'm going to upload the recorded sound bits to my website and give you a link when I've got it up to listen to. More details coming soon!
I'm a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and we just had a trio of Tesla employees come visit to recruit new graduates. During the question-and-answer session, I asked if the nose of the final Model S was going to stay as that black plastic, and their emphatic reply was "NO". The engineer (who works in the brakes team) said that the Alpha car that was used to film the clip was assembled in an extreme rush (jokingly, he said they assembled it in a single day) and the video was shot entirely in one night, on Christmas Eve. He then said that the final, finished front would look really good, close to the original mock-up and show car. I'm going to upload the recorded sound bits to my website and give you a link when I've got it up to listen to. More details coming soon!
They'd better communicate this because if you look at the comments section of their Alpha Build blog, there are lots of people talking about pulling their deposits!
jtibble. Thanks for the info. Who would have guessed the Model S nose would be such a key topic. The original gave it a very appealing look, whereas the alpha nose made it blend in with other vehicle types. Reminiscent of the original Volt and production version, although somewhat less extreme :biggrin:
This is why they were keeping quiet about Model S to date, you're never going to please all of the people etc. The danger now is they go back into recluse mode.
Agreed. If people are talking about pulling their deposits over non-final stuff (especially since it's not THAT major IMO), then perhaps they weren't serious to begin with (or aren't serious now and just want to make a big claim to get noticed). If the car rolled of the line as it appears in the pics above, I'd still be there, money in hand.
Pretty cool, look forward to the audio.
Considering how quickly Franz got the Model S design down, it's still pretty amazing that it still looks very much like the original. Someone above compared it to Concept Volt vs Production Volt -- I don't think that's the case in the least. Some changes, yeah, but at a glance it still looks like the same car. The volt actually had lines and such changed -- it was pretty major.
