Alpha or Beta? (photoshop mock-up?)

[TEG]

At the factory tour / Model S beta reveal, they had 3 cars for rides:
Red <- the most finished best example I think.
White <- alternate options, maybe not the same first choices as on the red
Black <- said to be some sort of engineering prototype, so not in as perfect shape as the other two.

I noticed this picture on flickr:

Which shows this exif info:

Taken April 10, 2011 at 3.35am PDT

Uploaded June 6, 2011 at 12.23PM PDT

So that is like a long time ago in Model S prototype history. The picture looks a lot like the Beta prototypes they just showed.
The tail lights in particular with the charge port flap shape and all that.

Could it be that the black one was really an "Alpha" but had been sort of slowly hand built up to be the template for the Betas?
Then the white and red were made as more perfect new copies of the black one as they get things more production ready?

I don't know, just a historical footnote. But the above picture seems a little curious if it is really that old and been online all this time as we speculated what Beta might look like.

I think the same photo got reused here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/heros/models_hero_3_2.jpg

Maybe, a while back, there was some photoshop work done on an Alpha photo to make it look like what the Beta would become?

 

[AnOutsider]

Interesting observations and good points. I wonder what we'll see once the betas roll off the line later this month. It could be that what they showed us was what they could cobble together. Maybe the real design is a bit farther along and we'll see it once the betas roll off the line later this month.

 

[TEG]

By the way, the Exif data also says "James Lipman" was the creator.

Noticed this:
Twitter

@jameslipman James Lipman



Been shooting the #tesla Model S for last few days. Definitely now my favourite new car. I want one. A lot. http://twitpic.com/4j2zbw

 

[tdelta1000]

I think it's the Black version but without the Beta additions. Think about it... That would mean they have four Model S' running around and not the three that were at the presentation. It was mention that they will build 50 Beta cars.

 

[Tommy]

I think the same photo got reused here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/heros/models_hero_3_2.jpg

On a hunch, I tried some other combos of the _3_2. jpg and got this:
http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/heros/models_hero_2_2.jpg

Which is a side profile of the car in question.

 

[TEG]

On a hunch, I tried some other combos of the _3_2. jpg and got this:
http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/heros/models_hero_2_2.jpg

Which is a side profile of the car in question.

Interesting... That differs a bit from the Beta cars I saw...
It has black door handles, not aluminum.
Also, I don't see the 2ndary brake caliper on the rear wheels that is used as a parking brake on the betas.
The red area on the rear taillight which is a charge port flap on the Betas looks to be just red under the plastic lens.

You can see on this photo that the black beta at the factory tour had the aluminum door handles:
Tesla S Factory Tour-29 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[AnOutsider]

They actually look like the test push-lever handles they pulled from Aston martins

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Yeah, it's the same alpha-with-Aston-handles-masquerading-as-a-beta in the first image in the Tesla home page as well: Tesla Motors | Premium Electric Vehicles