Better design?

[HaRRiKiRi]

Hi, I am new here, but I loves electric cars (teslas in particular) and I have a question about the model s design. I found this picture:

And this seems to be a lot more beautiful than the current design. Especially the front. I don't think it looks very good with the current front, and if this picture is not fake and is actually a concept they thought up, then why would they change it? Don't you all agree that the car in the picture looks better than the current design which has the smaller and rounder grill? I don't think it was changed because of the cost or technical challenges, but if it wasn't then why it was changed? The problem with electric cars (and the thing that creates a bad word for electric cars) are usually design. Most of the green and ecological cars are very hideous. I don't know why people would want to make them. I don't call model s hideous, as it looks quite good, but still, the concept here looks a lot better. Why can't they just take something like this:

And put in electric motor? They have to create a revolution in the engine, not the design.

 

[NEWDL]

Ok...The picture above was never the Model S in Tesla's eye. The rendering came from either autoblog or left lane news (LLN) as a concept rendering. They took Roadster design language and concepted what they thought the Model S might look like. I personally enjoy the design, but I am a 25 year old male. I do not believe the car above would be as widely accepted as Tesla's design for the Model S is. I have yet to meet one person who dislikes the Model S design. This is not to say that it is their favorite design, but to not offend ONE PERSON, that is a design achievement.

Autoblog or LLN (who ever created the rendering) made assumptions that were not true. They figured that Tesla was going to follow in the design pathway that was started by the roadster. This is false. In fact, I believe that the Model S is going to set the design language for Tesla as a brand. The Roadster was designed, but it was more incidental design than true ground up design. I believe that IF Tesla had the ability to engineer the Roadster from the ground it would have been a MUCH different car.

They need a car from the ground up this time. There is no other choice. If you would like to PM me I can expliain in more detail.

Or just respond and I can answer questions.

 

[samcarney]

Ok...I personally enjoy the design, but I am a 25 year old male.

I think the Model S is gorgeous, that is why I ordered one (R39). But I must admit the picture posted is a much better looking car, and I am a 61 year old male.

 

[TEG]

To me, the R&T illustration is more sporty looking and more aggressive than the actual Model S concept car, but less elegant. I tend to prefer the sporty and youthful look, but for Model S, Tesla seems to be targeting Mercedes type customers, not Ferrari type customers like they did with the Roadster.

The smooth and sleek look of the Model S will probably have a better "Cd" (aerodynamics) than the aggressive chiseled look of that R&T illustration.
But to me, the Model S is going to be a big, luxury car that is going to suffer a bit with wind resistance due to large frontal area not Cd. (Cda= Cd * a)

To be fair, the Model S concept does have a lot of sportiness to it, just a very refined, mature, subdued version.

 

[DRM]

Although I prefer the rendering, my wife (who will probably end up wiht the model-S) prefers the Tesla version .... just another datapoint.

//dan.

 

[Arnold Panz]

The rendering from LLN would be a sports sedan with a likely cramped interior -- kind of like what I'm expecting the Fisker Karma to have (if, you know, it ever gets into production). Part of Tesla goal and long term plan, it now seems clear, was to create a car that would be a luxury-type sedan with a spacious interior (seating for 7!), which would be impossible with the rendering. It's the difference between a Mercedes CLS (which Mercedes calls a "coupe" even though it has 4 doors), and Mercedes E-class. Even the price points roughly match up to what Fisker is charging for the Karma and Tesla is charging for the Model S.

Also, Tesla has plans to use the basis of the Model S to make a minivan and/or SUV and other vehicles, so I think it's accurate to say that the Model S is the underpinning of Tesla design plan long term, not the Roadster. And it was also probably easier for Tesla to get the government loan pitching a true "family" sedan rather than a high priced sports sedan/coupe as it's high volume product.

 

[TEG]

Also a large part of what you get is in the hands of the designer, so we have differences in approaches between Franz Von Holzhausen and Barney Hatt (who designed the Roadster body which was a big basis of the R&T illustration).

A Franz Von Holzhausen Mazda design:

A Franz Von Holzhausen Pontiac design:

A Barney Hatt 4-seat Lotus design:

As you may be able to see, Franz seems to prefer the swoopy, rounded "slip throught the wind" look, whereas Barney goes more for the "cut through the wind" look.

 

[dpeilow]

The rendering at the top of the thread was done by Road and Track. The LLN picture was the silhouette of the real car just before the launch.

 

[NEWDL]

Tesla actually leaked the silhouette themselves.... this is the LLN rendering I was thinking about...

At the time...things were happening so fast...hard to remember what came from who...

They took this:

and created this with it:

 

[OwlsCat]

Model S Design

I am a 65+ female, currently driving an Acura Coupe, the CL Type S. I prefer the slip aerodynamic shape of the Model S design, with the cabin-forward, dropped nose, rounded edge design. I have ordered one without actually seen the prototype, as it had left the Menlo Park showroom for Frankfurt, and rather than wait for it to come back for a test drive, I opted to get into the production queue ASAP.

 

[TEG]

I am a 65+ female, currently driving an Acura Coupe, the CL Type S. I prefer the slip aerodynamic shape of the Model S design, with the cabin-forward, dropped nose, rounded edge design. I have ordered one without actually seen the prototype, as it had left the Menlo Park showroom for Frankfurt, and rather than wait for it to come back for a test drive, I opted to get into the production queue ASAP.

I don't think they are letting people do any kind of test drives in the Model S concept car. They gave some short rides when it was first shown, but only a couple of press and employees have actually had a chance to drive it.

 

[TEG]

vs

 

[AnOutsider]

35/male and I prefer the official design. The mockup kind of reminds me of the Nissan GTR (which I dislike). It definitely has a sportier profile though

 

[HaRRiKiRi]

I don't think it would of been cramped. Yes, I dislike thous wanna be sedans too. Like Mazda RX-8. It has 5 seats, but it has almost no space in the back (at least for the legs). They took a sporty design and just added more seats (which does not actually work that way). The concept picture from R&T on the other hand at least has 4 doors. It does not look crampy and the size seems about the same as model S. I am not saying that they should change much in the design (like aerodynamics) but few little things like front bumper and side skirts could make the car look a lot better. And little things like that should not make the car more costly or less practical. I am not asking for another roadster. But as I said, these little things could be changed by buyer himself as it should not cost that much. I am also not saying that the car looks bad right now, but its just that when I saw that picture I though why tesla didn't go with that design? If its not theirs then too bad, but if I was a designer in Tesla and saw that pic I would be like "Why didn't I think of that?".

 

[storm9]

The front looks like an RX-8. I think what they should concentrate on is not so much changing the current design but working on the little things like headlights, tail lights, door handles etc.

While im okay with the exterior, the interior is a disaster! They really need to work the quality of the interior. I'm going to let them off the hook right now because its only a prototype. But if the final car is going to have the same interior as this then im out.

Also I am not too confident about the big touch screen, has anyone tried to use a iPhone while driving? Its terrible. The buttons need to have tactile feedback.

 

[Cobos]

I can understand why you are sceptical about the big touchscreen, even though I personally think that is a defining feature.
My question is rather what about the interior you find bad? From the pictures I've seen the interior looks like any other premium car interior?

Cobos

 

[mpt]

Also I am not too confident about the big touch screen, has anyone tried to use a iPhone while driving? Its terrible. The buttons need to have tactile feedback.

I'd add, how will it work with gloves on? The iPhone doesn't.

A friend of mine gave me some wool gloves with capacitive conductors in the finger ends so there are options. I don't want to loose the touch screen if we can help it!

 

[AnOutsider]

I like the touchscreen personally. As for the interior, granted it was just an early model, but the interior on the car I rode in was VERY nice. The materials and styling were DEFINITELY up to par. If anything, I'm scared they may cheapen it down when it comes to production.

 

[Tdave]

I'd add, how will it work with gloves on?

For what it's worth, an EV warms up very quickly because there's no waiting for the engine to warm up first before you get heat. You get heat immediately upon starting the car.

 

[tennis_trs]

I'd add, how will it work with gloves on?

My Roadster Sport's VDS works great with my driving gloves, but my iPhone doesn't work well with them.
But I expect that since the Model S touch screen is completely different that this may not be too useful of a data point.