How Much Would You Pay for a Premium Interior?

[Nashville P85D]

Yes MsElectric! This exactly right! This has nothing to do with buttons, GUI or even fancy wood trim. It has everything to do with fit and finish and the high 'touch' areas of the interior. I love my Model S but coming from years of German cars and most recently an Audi S8 the Tesla is not in the same ballpark from this standpoint.

Back to the OP's question - I would gladly pay $5-10K depending upon what is being added to have a better interior - again - not a luxury interior as I think this makes one think about a cushy interior vs an interior that is not squeaky, creaky and plastically. Just look at areas like the pano sunroof where it meets the headliner or the half executed ambient lighting. Go compare this to what the Germans are putting out and spend some time inside of one of those cars and you will not only see but feel the difference.

 

[MsElectric]

Yes MsElectric! This exactly right! This has nothing to do with buttons, GUI or even fancy wood trim. It has everything to do with fit and finish and the high 'touch' areas of the interior. I love my Model S but coming from years of German cars and most recently an Audi S8 the Tesla is not in the same ballpark from this standpoint.

Back to the OP's question - I would gladly pay $5-10K depending upon what is being added to have a better interior - again - not a luxury interior as I think this makes one think about a cushy interior vs an interior that is not squeaky, creaky and plastically. Just look at areas like the pano sunroof where it meets the headliner or the half executed ambient lighting. Go compare this to what the Germans are putting out and spend some time inside of one of those cars and you will not only see but feel the difference.

I think thoughts of the interior are heavily influenced by what someone drove before the Model S. The consensus seems to be that many would pay even more for the Premium Interior Package if it actually made the interior more premium. As it is I think they had to bundle the lift gate into that package to get more people to select it, as few saw much value in what they were offering. One of the biggest reasons I'd get the Premium Package is to get the Power Lift gate...

The LED ambient lighting used to be a $1,000 package right? I felt it was overpriced at that but it is especially surprising how half baked the implementation is for such a pricey options package that essentially amounts to a few LEDs. Ambient lighting is what makes many of the premium German cars so great to be in at night. Typically in German cars either you can change the color or by default the color is a light shade of amber specifically chosen so that the wavelength of the light does not affect your night vision. In the Tesla it is essentially a bright white light with a blue tint along the door panel, opposite of a color that is comforting to the eye at night. It seems whoever designed the Ambient Lighting system thought it was just for show and failed to understand the holistic purposes behind why just about every premium German car includes it. And then they forgot to illuminate the foot wells.

As much as I feel the interior could be better we have to temper this with the fact that Tesla nearly went bankrupt building the Model S and they managed to build the world's finest car on essentially a shoestring budget with technology never used in a car. Having said that it is 3+ years into the future so I think with the engineering, safety, and performance figured out, it is time they work on the interior so it is more competitive with the competition.

In any case, I can't wait to see the Model X interior. I hope it addresses most of the current gripes about the Model S interior and sooner or later the Model X interior refinements will make it to the Model S.

 

[scottm]

I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay any more than I did for my P85D, but for the money, I'd like sure to see some more basic interior features:

• lighted vanity mirrors
• coat hooks
• passenger assist handles
• rear seat beverage holders
• rear seat heater controls accessible from rear seat

Yes to these not so premium features much needed!

I do have a tip to help with the last one on the list.... I toss a wireless mouse to the back seat passengers and let them do anything they want on the console so they don't have to bug anyone else. My kids love to browse and read out interesting stuff about the towns we're driving through, like tour guides.. Yes, young eyes can actually read text on browser pages from the rear while in motion. Sometimes encourages us to seek out points of interest that we'd never know otherwise.

Also, I've voice trained the kids to be my Siri for the car. They do anything possible on the console by me asking for it in natural, conversational, language. Zero distraction, don't even take my eyes off the road.

While not a luxurious feature per se, it has raised the quality of our life while traveling. Immensely enriching our experience and connectedness with the world.

What's that worth? I'd say $1000 per road trip.

 

[shawk]

A heads up display with night vision, synthetic 360 degree video replacing the rear view mirrors and an improved CPU to drive it.

 

[scottm]

Love my S just like it is.

S Class?

or

Model S?

 

[svp6]

Love the way the car drives, and the center console. Minimalistic design is OK, but some tech features that are easy to implement (birds-eye view for parking, heads-up display, cooled / ventilated / massage seats) and improved materials need to be present by the time I replace my P85D. I like a comfortable ride and I would rather pay 10k for that instead of ludicrous mode.

 

[Ocelot]

I think thoughts of the interior are heavily influenced by what someone drove before the Model S. The consensus seems to be that many would pay even more for the Premium Interior Package if it actually made the interior more premium. As it is I think they had to bundle the lift gate into that package to get more people to select it, as few saw much value in what they were offering. One of the biggest reasons I'd get the Premium Package is to get the Power Lift gate...

The LED ambient lighting used to be a $1,000 package right? I felt it was overpriced at that but it is especially surprising how half baked the implementation is for such a pricey options package that essentially amounts to a few LEDs. Ambient lighting is what makes many of the premium German cars so great to be in at night. Typically in German cars either you can change the color or by default the color is a light shade of amber specifically chosen so that the wavelength of the light does not affect your night vision. In the Tesla it is essentially a bright white light with a blue tint along the door panel, opposite of a color that is comforting to the eye at night. It seems whoever designed the Ambient Lighting system thought it was just for show and failed to understand the holistic purposes behind why just about every premium German car includes it. And then they forgot to illuminate the foot wells.

As much as I feel the interior could be better we have to temper this with the fact that Tesla nearly went bankrupt building the Model S and they managed to build the world's finest car on essentially a shoestring budget with technology never used in a car. Having said that it is 3+ years into the future so I think with the engineering, safety, and performance figured out, it is time they work on the interior so it is more competitive with the competition.

In any case, I can't wait to see the Model X interior. I hope it addresses most of the current gripes about the Model S interior and sooner or later the Model X interior refinements will make it to the Model S.

agree with this and your previous posts in this thread, 100%.

 

[sitter_k]

I like a comfortable ride and I would rather pay 10k for that instead of ludicrous mode.

I agree!

And No one is saying they want more clutter which many fall back on as a default argument when some says they want a better interior. I think we want refinements and creature comforts. It's not just the German cars either! For example I drive a 2010 Infiniti right now and I would say that it's interior and textiles feel more high end and refined then the Model S. There is no other car i'd rather have and I "get" the allure of EVs and I "get" Tesla and I am a TSLA investor, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't want a more high end interior. Ludicrous mode is great and all but I would trade those couple handful of launches for a S class or 7 series seat + refinements.