Model 3 specs

[SageBrush]

Care to share your math? In particular, what did you use for the thermal mass of the steering wheel and seat? And the heat transfer from them to the air, and other components of the car?

I think he meant that people tend to be more tolerant of low ambient temperatures in the car if their hands, feet, back and butt are warm. It is certainly true for me; so much so that I ventilate with outside air into the cabin to control the humidity and condensation on the glass.

It also makes sense to only warm up part of the car.

 

[Stolz25]

My sources are telling me no mention of heated steering wheel on the first batch of Model 3 cars. And no hint of it being added later, either...

Quick, everyone cancel your reservations immediately!

 

[insaneoctane]

I think we've exhausted the heated steering wheel topic.... Any other specs to discuss? I am totally impressed with the weight reduction the model 3 seems to be enjoying vs MS. Does anyone know when the next logical "reveal" might take place? The hand over event certainly seemed like the logical time to do the full reveal, but clearly Tesla has something else in mind. Likely driven by huge backlog of sales. Since Tesla can't really sell a new buyer a model 3 (not until 2019 anyways) they would rather talk about what they can sell you and certainly not talk about what cool new features that the model 3 has that the MS/MX don't. Maybe we'll get details at the end of the year?

 

[Mishakim]

Interesting, I clearly recall seeing 3 connection points on the package shelf behind the rear seats. I've never had to use car seats, so maybe the middle one is shared if there are two car seats.

The connection points on the package shelf are for top anchors, to prevent forward tipping, one per seat. That's independent of having LATCH anchors in the seat base for lower anchors, two per child seat. Typical configuration in any but the widest cars is two sets of LATCH anchors in the base, and three top anchors. You would use the middle seatbelt to secure a third child seat.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

^ I doubt if they have another reveal-style event in the pipeline. They followed the same playbook with the X (a pretty ordinary final reveal / handoff event at that in Sept, 2015), with the S in 2012 and with the S-D in 2014.

They'll most likely move on to test drive events when they have enough demo 3s on hand. The online configurator will be opened up to everyone in due course.

 

[jonnyg]

Of course, Elon might say.....In time no one will need a heated steering wheel because you won't be holding it. Put your hands in your pockets. Heh.

I don't know, even this guy probably doesn't want cold hands:

 

[SageBrush]

Maybe we'll get details at the end of the year?

That ship has also sailed.

 

[Zaphod]

The connection points on the package shelf are for top anchors, to prevent forward tipping, one per seat. That's independent of having LATCH anchors in the seat base for lower anchors, two per child seat. Typical configuration in any but the widest cars is two sets of LATCH anchors in the base, and three top anchors. You would use the middle seatbelt to secure a third child seat.

Thanks for the clarification. As I said, haven't ever had to install cars seats before, so assumed the LATCH provisions were the same quantity top and bottom.

 

[Zaphod]

That ship has also sailed.

 

[MissAutobahn]

OM

Quick, everyone cancel your reservations immediately!

OMG, I also hope, the buttons of the interior lights are heated
Elon didn't mention that!

 

[K-MTG]

Heated sunshades?

 

[smartypnz]

Can't claim 5 seater w/o 5 sets of seat belts.

 

[lunitiks]

Five...
Pages...
About...
Heated steering wheel...

Eyes hurt...
Have to...
Get...
Out of this thread...

NOW!

 

[gregincal]

Can't claim 5 seater w/o 5 sets of seat belts.

??? It has 5 sets of seat belts.

 

[Petra]

The assumption would be from the order configurator form that only employees have been able to see so far. It would be odd for someone to fake all that just to mess with us. I am assuming it is likely real.

My concern is that the information doesn't seem available on any official public-facing source... which makes me wonder whether it's set in stone or not (recall how much the details of the Model X changed during early production).

 

[tomas]

My concern is that the information doesn't seem available on any official public-facing source... which makes me wonder whether it's set in stone or not (recall how much the details of the Model X changed during early production).

Interesting... Petra... set in stone...

 

[Petra]

Interesting... Petra... set in stone...

I was wondering if someone would catch that...

 

[BluestarE3]

Can't claim 5 seater w/o 5 sets of seat belts.

Obviously two seats and seat belts in the front. And, as seen below, three seat belts in the rear (evidenced by the three red belt buckles). Total of five seats/seat belts.

 

[Topher]

I think he meant that people tend to be more tolerant of low ambient temperatures in the car if their hands, feet, back and butt are warm.

Yes, I know what he meant. And I am familiar with the concept of mean radiant temperature as part of the comfort equation.

It also makes sense to only warm up part of the car.

Sure, but which part? The thermal mass of a interior of a car sized chuck of air is roughly 4.2 BTU per °F, while a steering wheel alone is around 2.9 BTU per °F, only slightly less than warming the air of the whole car. But that isn't the only factor, the interface temperature for a solid steering wheel means that it needs to be a lot warmer to feel the same as the air. So, it need to be close to 85°F to feel the same as 68°F air.

If we take the starting temperature as 0°F, the Air will require 285 BTU while the Steering wheel will require 246 BTUs. Now add in seats.

NOTES: This is only one small part of the whole calculation, because among other things, once one thing is warm, it will cool off making other things warmer. Comparing heat losses across all surfaces (i.e. to air) versus just hands against a solid surface, is flawed at best. We haven't even started to look at thermal conductivity. But I hope I have given some sense of the degree of complication that is involved in trying to answer this question. Sorry about the imperial units, that is what I am most familiar with.

Thank you kindly.

 

[KarenRei]

Or use your phone's access point. Or add a line to your family plan. or... you know
I've found it odd that I'm not paying for the Model S data plan yet.

Problems with that:

* As it stands, connecting to wifi is disabled while driving, is it not? ** ED: From another thread, it was mentioned that at least at present this is no longer the case.

* If your car is getting wifi from your phone, how are you supposed to control it remotely with the app? By definition, if you're remote, and you're using your cell phone, it's not in the car. So unless you're very close...

Unrelated question: is it generally possible to reject part of a premium upgrades package (for example, on S or X)? I prefer manual to power seating. I don't want to add 15-20kg per seat for something I don't even want and which could break, to adjust seats which is something I almost never do anyway. Weight directly relates to range and charge speed.