I am a fan of leather. Its durable, smells great, fairly easy to clean, and leather breaths compared to synthetic. I may even prefer textile seats to 'vegan leather'. IMO leather should be an option.
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jelloslug
Active Member
I was at a store today and the first throng they said is that the seats are now all the synthic material that the white seats are made of.
Agreed. I've sat in the white seats and they are impressive in how they feel, and there are many posts on TMC attesting to their durability and how they resist all kinds of stains. If the new Cream and Black seats are made of the same material, then I applaud Tesla for making that change.
Guys, the Tesla synthetic material is superior to leather - at least in terms of profit margins to Tesla, that is.
I know some of us (myself included) wondered on other threads if Tesla would introduce other "vegan leather" colors besides the Ultra White. It seems they have in a big way!
On one of the Tesla podcasts (sorry I don't remember which one) some time back a listener wrote in with some interesting math about how many cow hides would be needed for producing all those Model 3s once Tesla gets up to a 5-8k/week production capability. I think the average leather interior is like 3-4 cow hides worth of leather. It was a while back ago so I don't remember all the details but that listener basically argued that Tesla could possibly be constrained by the amount of leather it would need (or at least it would be a worry they should prefer not to have). He basically concluded that it would be in Teslas best interest on multiple fronts (ecologically, logistically and economically) to ditch leather completely. I myself thought that it would be unlikely. But that guy called it - whomever he was - months and months ago.
On one of the Tesla podcasts (sorry I don't remember which one) some time back a listener wrote in with some interesting math about how many cow hides would be needed for producing all those Model 3s once Tesla gets up to a 5-8k/week production capability. I think the average leather interior is like 3-4 cow hides worth of leather. It was a while back ago so I don't remember all the details but that listener basically argued that Tesla could possibly be constrained by the amount of leather it would need (or at least it would be a worry they should prefer not to have). He basically concluded that it would be in Teslas best interest on multiple fronts (ecologically, logistically and economically) to ditch leather completely. I myself thought that it would be unlikely. But that guy called it - whomever he was - months and months ago.
Agree, the material that the white seats are made from is really nice (better than any real leather seats I've sat in). If they expanded that to the other colors, that is great! Fits with the mission of Tesla as well -- leather (and animal agriculture in general) is quite the ecological nightmare. And the cream color is a huge upgrade from the yellow-y tan color they had for years.
VBXATL
Member
Someone else posted that the material used is called Ultra Leather from Ultrafabrics.
Original | ultrafabrics
Original | ultrafabrics
HankLloydRight
No Roads
That's just silly (not you, the "listener"). Tesla doesn't operate in a leather supply vacuum. I couldn't find many stats on this, but what about the millions upon millions of other cars made with leather interiors? I really don't think Tesla adding ~100,000 cars per years to that is going to make a dent in the leather supply chain (assuming all Model 3s were to be leather, which would not have been the case anyway).
The only stats I could find is that JBS S.A. in Brazil is the largest leather processor in the world, which produced 10 million hides in 2015. That's just one non-US producer. I also found this stat from 1998:
Leather for the Car: A Rising Tide of Hides
I did read that the global production of cattle is going down as a trend...so the supply of leather for cars is also declining.. but I see that as a problem for BMW, Mercedes, Acura, etc who make millions of cars with leather long before Tesla is affected as a niche micro car manufacturer (Yeah, they're still tiny compared to the big boys).
And obviously now with Tesla moving off of leather altogether, it won't affect them at all.
jelloslug
Active Member
Starting to see this become more and more common anyway. My buddy's wife just leased a new MB C63 AMG and it is devoid of real leather besides maybe the steering wheel--nearly $70k vehicle. My wife's new Acura RDX (I know..) has what they call "leatherette"--43k vehicle.
I've always been a leather guy myself, but if these new interiors are akin to the white interiors and offer more durability and stain resistances, I say bring it. They have the allure of leather without the cattle industry's environmental detriment.
Also, super nice to see them ditch the tired camel interior color for a more modern shale. It better matches the light headliner than the yellowy camel too, IMO. Offering a cognac color wouldn't kill them either.
I've always been a leather guy myself, but if these new interiors are akin to the white interiors and offer more durability and stain resistances, I say bring it. They have the allure of leather without the cattle industry's environmental detriment.
Also, super nice to see them ditch the tired camel interior color for a more modern shale. It better matches the light headliner than the yellowy camel too, IMO. Offering a cognac color wouldn't kill them either.
mal_tsla
Member
I think "Ultra Leather" is alcantara-like.
Tesla has confirmed that the Vegan seats are polyurethane material. I found this document about polyurethane upholstery interesting.
https://www.stancehealthcare.com/pdf/poly_upholstery_fabrics.pdf
We have them in our X and they do breathe at least as well as leather and clean far easier.
Tesla has confirmed that the Vegan seats are polyurethane material. I found this document about polyurethane upholstery interesting.
https://www.stancehealthcare.com/pdf/poly_upholstery_fabrics.pdf
We have them in our X and they do breathe at least as well as leather and clean far easier.
Your buddy's wife C63 comes with MB-Tex as standard. Real leather is an UPGRADE option (Nappa leather) for 3k extra. Also a C class is just that, a C class. They don't even Full leather on it.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
My LTV motorhome came with UltraLeather interior back in 2005 and it still looks and feels brand new today. While my Chrysler leather car interior from '92 was rock hard and wrinkled long before I got rid of it in 2012. My current car is leather too, and I worry all the time about what will happen as it ages, so I am thrilled the Tesla will not have this issue.
-Randy
-Randy
I think it's worth more than fabric, yes, but not as much as leather. Tesla is charging the same price as leather - that's my problem.
thegruf
Active Member
alcantara good / suede bad
leather good / ultra leather bad
confused
actually leather is mostly so conditoned these days you would be hard pushed to tell it from top notch artificial stuff.
I have only one issue with changing from leather is that plastics degrade to various extents over time and with wear whereas leather gains a patina and can sometimes even improve in appearance with age.
leather good / ultra leather bad
confused
actually leather is mostly so conditoned these days you would be hard pushed to tell it from top notch artificial stuff.
I have only one issue with changing from leather is that plastics degrade to various extents over time and with wear whereas leather gains a patina and can sometimes even improve in appearance with age.
jelloslug
Active Member
Yea, most automotive leather is "dyed" with a plastic top coat to correct the color and make it stain resistant.alcantara good / suede bad
leather good / ultra leather bad
confused
actually leather is mostly so conditoned these days you would be hard pushed to tell it from top notch artificial stuff.
I have only one issue with changing from leather is that plastics degrade to various extents over time and with wear whereas leather gains a patina and can sometimes even improve in appearance with age.
You are making the assumption that the material is cheaper or otherwise inferior to leather and I am not sure that has been established. For all we know, this is the same material they are putting in the Falcon seats and I don't think anyone would complain about that. FWIW, the white seats feel great and seem to hold up well in the floor models.
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