Drop-In Center Console now in the Tesla Model S online store

[brianman]

@artsci - Can you take a picture of your dash so I can see the grain of your vehicle's CF? Thanks.

 

[nkohlimd]

Rick
Looks amazing...you are the MAN!!! BTW-like the stylus holder at the bottom of your screen - do you have a link where to purchase? Let me know how is goes with the foam - best of luck - and Happy Father's Day to all!!!

 

[artsci]

@artsci - Can you take a picture of your dash so I can see the grain of your vehicle's CF? Thanks.

Here are a few:

 

[pmoa]

Rick that looks awesome.

 

[4SUPER9]

Rick,
Once again, a stellar job/mod.
Question: is your console actually "installed", or is it just inserted and laying in place? If not screwed down, how is the general feel of it?

 

[artsci]

Rick,
Once again, a stellar job/mod.
Question: is your console actually "installed", or is it just inserted and laying in place? If not screwed down, how is the general feel of it?

Thanks 4SUPER9. It's installed -- screwed into place, and it's pretty solid. Only two small screws hold it in place.

Fortunately my SC agreed I could do the install as they had no open appointments for weeks. Whoever designed this piece did a poor job of anticipating how to provide proper holes/channels for USB and power cable runs. I had four such connections and I had to cut my own holes to accommodate them. Not good.

 

[rickgt]

really like the way this looks... I have had to order the black pano (still not arrived after months of waiting) but have Carbon Fibre interior... Can you provide any input on how you did this? what were the steps, and how difficult was it?

Here are a few photos of the final results. I'm lining my 20"s tires with foam at the moment but will come back to this topic and post more photos and info later today or tonight.

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[artsci]

Rick
Looks amazing...you are the MAN!!! BTW-like the stylus holder at the bottom of your screen - do you have a link where to purchase? Let me know how is goes with the foam - best of luck - and Happy Father's Day to all!!!

The stylus holder is available here on Amazon. The stylus keeps my mitts off the screen

- - - Updated - - -

really like the way this looks... I have had to order the black pano (still not arrived after months of waiting) but have Carbon Fibre interior... Can you provide any input on how you did this? what were the steps, and how difficult was it?

I'm on a business trip at the moment but will post some more info about the install later tonight.

 

[nkohlimd]

Thanks Rick...you always have the answers!

 

[4SUPER9]

Rick,
I asked this a little while ago, but feel that you can give better input. Is the console "open" in the front? I don't think my SC will allow me to install it myself, and would like to run a wire inside.

 

[artsci]

Rick,
I asked this a little while ago, but feel that you can give better input. Is the console "open" in the front? I don't think my SC will allow me to install it myself, and would like to run a wire inside.

As you can see from the photo below it is open in the front, so it would be very easy to run a wire from that direction.

I'll add to this post other information and photos about the install.

really like the way this looks... I have had to order the black pano (still not arrived after months of waiting) but have Carbon Fibre interior... Can you provide any input on how you did this? what were the steps, and how difficult was it?

Basically, what I did was cut the carbon veneer sheet I bought from Dragon Plate to fit all of the sliding door surfaces and the surface of the hinged door. The veneer is very easy to work with and it can be easily cut with a sharp utility knife and straightedge. It has a protective film on the top surface and 3M adhesive on the bottom side, with a protective cover that peels off when you're ready to stick it in place.

This is definitely a job for which the "measure twice, cut once" rule applies. Four pieces have to be cut: one for the hinged flap, two for the sliding doors, and one for the flat front piece that goes under the cubby.

I took very careful measurements for the size and shape of the four pieces (some are tapered shapes), marked them with a pencil on the protective film, then cut the pieces. The pieces have to be cut about 1/8" or so longer for the two sliding doors so the front edge nests under the back of the next door. This prevents them from catching when sliding the doors open (they slide under each other). Assuming that I'd make some mistakes, I ordered a large enough sheet from Dragon Plate so that I'd have enough to spare.

This photo shows from right to left the folding door, the two sliding doors, and the front piece. Note that the first door slides under the second and both under the front piece.

Here's another shot without the sides attached. The sides snap into place with spring clips, which can be seen in the photo. But the console has to be installed first without them attached.

When the sheets are cut you have to be careful to align the diagonal pattern of the carbon fiber for each piece so they will consistently match both each other and the dash surface.

Removing the small handle on the first sliding door was the biggest PIA of the whole job. It's anchored on the underside of the door with some metal rivets. A Dremel tool has to be used to grind off the rivet. As the rivet ends are surrounded by plastic arms, one has to work slowly and carefully to do as little damage to the plastic as possible. Once the rivets have been sufficiently ground down the little handle can be pried off. Below are a few shots of the underside of the console and the handle itself when removed.

Here's a shot of the underside. Note the small horizontal tab in the left center between the to Xs in the plastic frame. That clips the sliding door in place. When you press the top of the door down it releases. Note that the black vinyl sheets that cover the doors are simply folded over and stapled to the underside.

Here's a closer view of the latch.

This photo shows the spring for the folding door. There's one on each side.

This photo shows one of the two rivets I ground off on the back side of the door to remove the handle. The ground down part shows in the upper right.

Below are two shots of the small handle when it's removed. I Dremeled off the three tabs and used 3M tape to reattach it to the top of the door. Works great.

This is not a difficult job but it takes time and patience. I worked on it for about 6 hours in all, including about an hour for installation (which I could have done in 15 minutes if the console itself had been better designed to accommodate the four USB connections I made)

 

[Andyw2100]

Great pictures and detail, Rick.Thanks!

Now that you've seen the console up close, and had the chance to work with it, how easy or difficult would you say it would be to swap the door--the one piece that Tesla made in Piano Black or a different finish--if one was somehow available through Tesla or a third party?

For example, if someone with a Matte Obeche console offered to swap doors with me for $200, would it be a simple procedure, or would there be much involved? Is it a simple enough procedure that a company like EVAnnex might produce a third party door in the finishes that Tesla chose not to produce, and sell them as an easy swap in by the end-user? Is it simple enough that Tesla might eventually produce such a piece, or would it require a trip to a Service Center, in which case I would anticipate Tesla wanting no part of it.

Thanks!

 

[artsci]

Great pictures and detail, Rick.Thanks!

Now that you've seen the console up close, and had the chance to work with it, how easy or difficult would you say it would be to swap the door--the one piece that Tesla made in Piano Black or a different finish--if one was somehow available through Tesla or a third party?

For example, if someone with a Matte Obeche console offered to swap doors with me for $200, would it be a simple procedure, or would there be much involved? Is it a simple enough procedure that a company like EVAnnex might produce a third party door in the finishes that Tesla chose not to produce, and sell them as an easy swap in by the end-user? Is it simple enough that Tesla might eventually produce such a piece, or would it require a trip to a Service Center, in which case I would anticipate Tesla wanting no part of it.

Thanks!

I don't think it would be that difficult to swap all of the doors. I think the two sides come apart (they seem to be attached with screws) and the doors will then be removable.

 

[OnkelDunkel]

Great pictures and detail, Rick.Thanks!

Now that you've seen the console up close, and had the chance to work with it, how easy or difficult would you say it would be to swap the door--the one piece that Tesla made in Piano Black or a different finish--if one was somehow available through Tesla or a third party?

For example, if someone with a Matte Obeche console offered to swap doors with me for $200, would it be a simple procedure, or would there be much involved? Is it a simple enough procedure that a company like EVAnnex might produce a third party door in the finishes that Tesla chose not to produce, and sell them as an easy swap in by the end-user? Is it simple enough that Tesla might eventually produce such a piece, or would it require a trip to a Service Center, in which case I would anticipate Tesla wanting no part of it.

Thanks!

One of my fellow Danish Tesla owners (FrederikC) made this How-to guide for wrapping the "door" and he removes it from the center console:

Carbon Wrap Center Console - Teslafied

/Jacob

 

[Andyw2100]

I don't think it would be that difficult to swap all of the doors. I think the two sides come apart (they seem to be attached with screws) and the doors will then be removable.

One of my fellow Danish Tesla owners (FrederikC) made this How-to guide for wrapping the "door" and he removes it from the center console:

Carbon Wrap Center Console - Teslafied

/Jacob

Thanks Rick and Jacob.

Looking at the instructions in the Teslafied instructions from FrederikC, it looks complicated enough that I'm guessing if Tesla did manufacture a replacement door it would be something they would require the service centers install, which makes me think they may not do it at all, since the service centers are already over-worked. But perhaps a third-party company will produce something.

I'm not at all good at taking things apart and putting them back together, and the only part of the instructions I didn't understand was the part about the bit and the flare key to loosen the screw, so it does look pretty straght-forward. If I ever need to change my door, I imagine I can research that some before-hand, but at this point I'm not optimistic I'll be needing to change the door.

Thanks!

 

[OnkelDunkel]

Thanks Rick and Jacob.

Looking at the instructions in the Teslafied instructions from FrederikC, it looks complicated enough that I'm guessing if Tesla did manufacture a replacement door it would be something they would require the service centers install, which makes me think they may not do it at all, since the service centers are already over-worked. But perhaps a third-party company will produce something.

I'm not at all good at taking things apart and putting them back together, and the only part of the instructions I didn't understand was the part about the bit and the flare key to loosen the screw, so it does look pretty straght-forward. If I ever need to change my door, I imagine I can research that some before-hand, but at this point I'm not optimistic I'll be needing to change the door.

Thanks!

I'm pretty good at taking things apart - it's putting them back together that I find difficult ;-)

 

[GoBlue88]

Wow, this looks great. Now if we can figure out how to do the same with Obeche Matte wood, I will be a very happy camper. Getting my piano black console installed tomorrow morning by a ranger. I am looking forward to having the console, but like everyone else, I am disappointed that I won't be able to have it match the wood trim in the rest of the car.

Had my piano black console installed last week. Eh, the piano black not being obeche gloss actually doesn't bother me. That said, if there was an easy solution to cover the piano black with an obeche gloss covering like what artsci did with the carbon fiber, I'd probably do it.

 

[4SUPER9]

Had my piano black console installed last week. Eh, the piano black not being obeche gloss actually doesn't bother me. That said, if there was an easy solution to cover the piano black with an obeche gloss covering like what artsci did with the carbon fiber, I'd probably do it.

There has to be a way of finding a matching material similar to the obeche's. I was thinking that someone could to take a high resolution photo of the material they wanted, and send it off to one of those laptop skin companies (e.g.: skinit)? This may work better for obeche gloss rather than the matte. Does anyone think this would work?

 

[GoBlue88]

There has to be a way of finding a matching material similar to the obeche's. I was thinking that someone could to take a high resolution photo of the material they wanted, and send it off to one of those laptop skin companies (e.g.: skinit)? This may work better for obeche gloss rather than the matte. Does anyone think this would work?

Seems like Evannex can already do it, as they make a center consoles with all the finishes: Tesla Model S Center Console Insert (CCI)

They've also got skins enabling new textures on the dash. Seems like the same applique technology could be used to make obeche skins for the Tesla center console: Tesla Model S Accent-I: Interior Dash Trim Appliqué Kit

 

[artsci]

Going to have the two side panels covered in tan leather to match my seats. Don't like the black.

Tesla's Obeche finish looks nothing like any Obeche veneer I have ever seen. In its natural state Obeche is kind of a tan color without the darker stripes. Tesla's Obeche is more like Zebrawood. Zebrawood is quite a cool wood.