Change from alcantara to cloth on PUP???

[sreams]

Add another review showing the now unicorn Model 3, just published today in Car & Driver. Alas: goodbye, alcantara. Beautiful shot of the interior from today's C&D review:

Minor correction... that's Road and Track, not Car and Driver.

 

[Brandon332]

I know why Tesla made the change, and that's because alcantara has become too expensive for Tesla and they're cheaping out. When you think about it it's the only logical thing:

They removed alcantara from the Model S and X dashboards some time ago. Why would they do that? It was generally well-liked. It's known that there is a near monopoly on alcantara, there are only a couple suppliers and arguably only one in North America depending on the article. It's also known that demand for alcantara has gone through the roof (this is talked about in numerous articles) due to its increasing use in cars, and consumer electronics like tablet cases (think the alcantara on the side of the ipad magnetic screen cover).

While Tesla wasn't cut off, the supplier surely raised the price for them and probably other purchasers, so in turn Tesla cut down its use on the dash's. Now apparently the price increased a lot, and Tesla isn't down for any of that, so they bailed on it altogether. Tesla's cheaping out is why they needed to spin/lie about it, if it was truly a vendor cutting them off I'm confident they would have said it.

Important to note: Elon Musk has said repeatedly on his shareholder conference calls that Tesla has been must stricter with suppliers for Model 3. He SPECIFICALLY mentioned that any suppliers who fail to deliver or perform on time would face large penalties per the contracts Tesla was drawing up with each supplier. For this reason, it's incredibly unlikely that it's a supplier issue, and very likely it's a decision on Tesla's side.

 

[SMAlset]

I know why Tesla made the change, and that's because alcantara has become too expensive for Tesla and they're cheaping out. When you think about it it's the only logical thing:

They removed alcantara from the Model S and X dashboards some time ago. Why would they do that? It was generally well-liked. It's known that there is a near monopoly on alcantara, there are only a couple suppliers and arguably only one in North America depending on the article. It's also known that demand for alcantara has gone through the roof (this is talked about in numerous articles) due to its increasing use in cars, and consumer electronics like tablet cases (think the alcantara on the side of the ipad magnetic screen cover).

While Tesla wasn't cut off, the supplier surely raised the price for them and probably other purchasers, so in turn Tesla cut down its use on the dash's. Now apparently the price increased a lot, and Tesla isn't down for any of that, so they bailed on it altogether. Tesla's cheaping out is why they needed to spin/lie about it, if it was truly a vendor cutting them off I'm confident they would have said it.

Important to note: Elon Musk has said repeatedly on his shareholder conference calls that Tesla has been must stricter with suppliers for Model 3. He SPECIFICALLY mentioned that any suppliers who fail to deliver or perform on time would face large penalties per the contracts Tesla was drawing up with each supplier. For this reason, it's incredibly unlikely that it's a supplier issue, and very likely it's a decision on Tesla's side.

So are you saying Tesla should have raised their prices on their cars instead if they were faced with a substantial increase in cost of materials? I think "cheaping out" sounds derogatory here. I doubt the materials they have gone with are considered sub-premium in the fabric world. Just a different kind of material than what they had used before.

 

[MauryDann]

Well count me as one NOT upset about this. My first reservation does have alcantara. However, my second reservation (waiting on dual motors) will have the premium package and probably a cloth headliner. I'm good with that.

It's not 'everyone' and I really wish you'd just speak for yourself. Outside of one forum member who has an allergy to polyester & was going to cancel his signature Model S reservation as a result, I've never heard of someone basing a car purchase on headliner material.

But I guess now I have.

This doesn’t surprise me. I’ve spent a lot of time on this forum, and I’ve never seen you be upset with any of Tesla’s decisions, no matter how dubious. No offense intended, but I think your feelings on this matter are more of an outlier than the gentlemen’s that you were responding to.

 

[sreams]

While Tesla wasn't cut off, the supplier surely raised the price for them and probably other purchasers, so in turn Tesla cut down its use on the dash's. Now apparently the price increased a lot, and Tesla isn't down for any of that, so they bailed on it altogether. Tesla's cheaping out is why they needed to spin/lie about it, if it was truly a vendor cutting them off I'm confident they would have said it.

"Cheaping out" only occurs when you take an action to reduce costs as they are. If the cost of Alcantara is going up "a lot" after the start of production resulting in Tesla bailing on it, the driving force was the external price increase... not some form of "cheaping out" by the company subject to that external price increase.

That said... I agree with others that Tesla has not handled communication on this well at all.

 

[Brandon332]

So are you saying Tesla should have raised their prices on their cars instead if they were faced with a substantial increase in cost of materials? I think "cheaping out" sounds derogatory here. I doubt the materials they have gone with are considered sub-premium in the fabric world. Just a different kind of material than what they had used before.

Yes, they should've raised the prices. Alcantara option for $500? I'm down for that. Or lowered premium package by like $250 is always possible. Or yanno they could just say that supplier's changes made it too expensive.

 

[Brandon332]

"Cheaping out" only occurs when you take an action to reduce costs as they are. If the cost of Alcantara is going up "a lot" after the start of production resulting in Tesla bailing on it, the driving force was the external price increase... not some form of "cheaping out" by the company subject to that external price increase.

That said... I agree with others that Tesla has not handled communication on this well at all.

This is fair, cheaping out was bad terminology.

 

[bonnie]

This doesn’t surprise me. I’ve spent a lot of time on this forum, and I’ve never seen you be upset with any of Tesla’s decisions, no matter how dubious. No offense intended, but I think your feelings on this matter are more of an outlier than the gentlemen’s that you were responding to.

Wow. 'No offense intended'? Totally offended by your post. You could have just claimed my views were an outlier, but you had to go the extra mile.

I suppose these forum members are outliers, too. [POLL] Do you care about Telsa's headliner material change?

 

[AnxietyRanger]

If they didn't adapt to the thousands of people remarking on the lack of a binnacle or HUD,

Oh ye of little faith!

 

[Drumheller]

I suppose these forum members are outliers, too. [POLL] Do you care about Telsa's headliner material change?

At the time of this post, 38.9% of people voting are unhappy or upset with the change. That's a significant percentage.

 

[MauryDann]

Wow. 'No offense intended'? Totally offended by your post. You could have just claimed my views were an outlier, but you had to go the extra mile.

Sorry to hear that my post offended you. It's the truth as I see it. I've never seen you critical of tesla, and I've always seen you defending dubious decisions such as this in past forums. As far as I can tell you're a well known Tesla superfan, which is fine, of course, but also makes my statement ring true, that your opinion is more of an outlier than the gentleman's you were responding to.

Wow. 'No offense intended'? Totally offended by your post. You could have just claimed my views were an outlier, but you had to go the extra mile.

I suppose these forum members are outliers, too. [POLL] Do you care about Telsa's headliner material change?

 

[bonnie]

At the time of this post, 38.9% of people voting are unhappy or upset with the change. That's a significant percentage.

But it hardly makes my view an outlier. That's all I was saying.

Sorry to hear that my post offended you. It's the truth as I see it. I've never seen you critical of tesla, and I've always seen you defending dubious decisions such as this in past forums. As far as I can tell you're a well known Tesla superfan, which is fine, of course, but also makes my statement ring true, that your opinion is more of an outlier than the gentleman's you were responding to.

You made it personal when you didn't need to. Maybe you missed my very first post in this thread, so I'll post it below. I clearly stated I didn't think Tesla handled it as well as they could. As far as my opinion being an outlier, just under half the forum members who responded to the poll that I linked share my opinion. Which kind of makes it NOT an outlier opinion.

That said, I wish they'd only shown the current material or made clear that a change was going to happen. And I'd guess they're wishing that right now, too.

 

[Sunshine State]

The base model headliner would be a completely different part due to the deletion of the glass roof.

Ahh yeah, you are right, didn’t think of that, probably the same materials though.

 

[freeform1999]

Just got back from Century City Tesla in LA.. Wow! Looks better and even more proportional in person! Really solid feel throughout.. and yes, it was ALL cloth interior which looked 'fine', as in good quality and feel. I had to stare at it to see it was cloth, at least in the store lighting. There was many owners of S & X there.. some with both who already had the 3 and all were saying this car is a leap up (inside/out/tech) and Tesla needs to come out with updates now that this is out there.

 

[pdxgibby]

Those pics look nothing like my S which has Alcantara. Alcantara is a swede sort of appearance and feel...those pics look like fabric.

I think using “Swede” as a headliner material would certainly be a human rights violation. You think PETA would be mad...what about PETH.

Okay, I’m ridiculous, but this thread needed a little levity.

 

[Zaphod]

Yeah, I'm pissed about the Alcantara fabric swap-out. I like the look of it and it's black.
The new fabric appears to not be black, which really upsets me... wanted an all black interior, just like my Model S.
Have been having thoughts about canceling my order and forfeiting my $3500, just to get out of the deal.

The alcantara was never black, so not sure where you ever got that from. It was/is light grey color.

 

[MP3Mike]

Really solid feel throughout.. and yes, it was ALL cloth interior which looked 'fine', as in good quality and feel.

Even inside the door handle area? Do you have any pictures of the door panels?

 

[Kwat]

Ok I really like the Alcantara head liner on my X especially after my service guy left a big greasy hand print on it . I was driving on I5 heading South when I noticed it . One little squirt of Greased Lightning on a clean cotton wiping cloth an is was as good as new. I have tested cleaners GL is the best. See image of hand print here.

I remember my Tesla sales rep. telling me it was easy to clean yes he was correct.

 

[CuriousG]

Kind of... I think aside from charging people for FSD and not delivering on the S and X for a while, this is the worst of the complaints. I've never been too persuaded by complaints about battery size, or the complaint about theoretical horsepower vs. horsepower delivered, or many of the prior complaints. The adaptive headlights kerfuffle was a big-ish deal, but Tesla fixed that at the service centers as far as I know.

I think the issue has been magnified due to how many people have pre-ordered this car. You have people weighing in that aren't current owners.

 

[insaneoctane]

Ok I really like the Alcantara head liner on my X especially after my service guy left a big greasy hand print on it . I was driving on I5 heading South when I noticed it . One little squirt of Greased Lightning on a clean cotton wiping cloth an is was as good as new. I have tested cleaners GL is the best. See image of hand print here.
View attachment 272858
I remember my Tesla sales rep. telling me it was easy to clean yes he was correct.

I can guarantee the premium textile offering that we've been dooped into would NOT clean up that greasy handprint well. The texture would make it very difficult to clean.