Not a voluntary change? So, who forced them? Somewhere inside Tesla a decision was made, probably for good reasons.
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Not a voluntary change? So, who forced them? Somewhere inside Tesla a decision was made, probably for good reasons.
Thomas Edison
Active Member
Esme Es Mejor
Member
Garlan Garner
Banned
Anyone know how safe the new headliner is?
The reason I ask is because its impossible to set Alcantara on fire. its pretty much a fire blanket. you can rip that stuff down and wrap yourself up in it and walk through a raging fire and be just fine.
The reason I ask is because its impossible to set Alcantara on fire. its pretty much a fire blanket. you can rip that stuff down and wrap yourself up in it and walk through a raging fire and be just fine.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Here you go - 49 CFR specifies the flammability requirements for interior materials, including headlining:
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title49-vol6/pdf/CFR-2011-title49-vol6-sec571-302.pdf
I think you overstate the point. No matter how fireproof a blanket is, you're not going to be "just fine" walking through a raging fire.
On top of that, if you did find yourself needing to walk through a fire, I doubt you'd be able to tear off the headliner from a car, unless it was a very old and raggedy car. What matters for the headliner is that it not be inflammable.
Maybe we should start another thread, lambasting Tesla for not making the headliner detachable so that it could be used as a fire blanket for all those times when you have to run into a burning building to rescue a puppy.
Garlan Garner
Banned
Me? Overstating a point? What? How dare you. lolI think you overstate the point. No matter how fireproof a blanket is, you're not going to be "just fine" walking through a raging fire.
On top of that, if you did find yourself needing to walk through a fire, I doubt you'd be able to tear off the headliner from a car, unless it was a very old and raggedy car. What matters for the headliner is that it not be inflammable.
Maybe we should start another thread, lambasting Tesla for not making the headliner detachable so that it could be used as a fire blanket for all those times when you have to run into a burning building to rescue a puppy.
Well, at least a decision they would preferred not to have had to make. If rumors are true and they lost their supplier, they probably had a bunch of bad choices. Halting production again would have been the worst one (lets see, some unhappy customers on one side or the company going bankrupt on the other). I'm sure they could have obtained Alcantara at some price, but the price was obviously too high.
omgwtfbyobbq
Active Member
Supply dried up is what I've read, and Tesla's not a large enough buyer to push other manufacturers out.
Here’s Where You Can Still Buy Alcantara
Probably because more large manufacturers in more countries (eg China) are using it.
Alcantara Lights Up This Year's Shanghai Auto Show
Toray is increasing production in Italy based on demand, but that'll take a while to bring online.
Toray’s Italian Subsidiary to Enhance Production Capacity of Alcantara<span>®</span> | NEWS | TORAY
I suppose they could try to pay more for Alcantara to keep it, but the more I see of the premium textile, the more I like it. The only downside for me is still using the Alcantara in other parts of the car. I'd rather have dark/light premium textile everywhere than mixed Alcantara/Premium Textile.
Edit - I also want to point out that Tesla didn't lose their supplier per say. Their interior pieces are still being made by SA Automotive, who built/bought a new facility in Reno to support Model 3 production. At the same time, it appears that SA Automotive didn't have enough volume with Tesla to continue getting Alcantara from Gertex in Germany at what I'm guessing was an acceptable price, and they probably hashed that out with Tesla and decided on the current premium textile as a replacement.
Edit2 - Now that I'm thinking about it, the premium textile might be the Deko that Gertex offers, or it could be something else.
http://www.gertex.de/files/uploads/...de-Industrie-Textil-Thomas-Waschke_TW-Art.jpg
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It’s because of the global movement against killing those poor Alcantras.
There is a global squeeze on Alcantara. Their supplier (who probably already disliked them, based on the common knowledge of how Tesla treat suppliers) decided to tell them to take a hike with their relatively small orders (with a delayed volume ramp up as a further annoyance) and instead decided to focus on their larger clients like BMW, VW, etc...... AKA they decided Tesla wasn't worth the headache.
Ulmo
Active Member
Not that many people.
The problem is, it is a sign of things to come: ordered and paid for cars that get delivered with different options than ordered, for things that matter. It happened before with seats on the Model S. A lot of that was fixed, but it seemed like it took forever to fix for a lot of people, and a lot of people seemed like they couldn't get it fixed. It could happen again with the Model 3. All of the currently configuring Model 3 customers are previous or current Tesla owners, so they're mostly familiar with this issue, and know what it means. Very few of them care hugely about the cloth vs. suede, but it is just one of those things that is a sign of trouble to come. However, I hope that this is just a little hiccup along the way, rather than a sign of future problems. I think Tesla tried to learn its lesson with this and not make this mistake on the Model X, and from what I can tell, it did pretty well on that.
Ulmo
Active Member
If true, this is another example where the truth is far more interesting, useful, and productive than fake history dreamed up by PR people trying to herd cattle.
Xenius
Active Member
Biggest problem is how to spin the tale that the new "Premium" textile is more luxurious than the "fake" suede used in practically all other luxury cars, hence the use of "fake" suede instead of Alcantara. But I agree, it's better to protect the poor baby Alcantaras.
Oh, yeah, shouldn't the title be: "... if the headliner is fake cloth instead of fake suede?"
Oh, yeah, shouldn't the title be: "... if the headliner is fake cloth instead of fake suede?"
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