Model X 2nd row now folds FLAT! (July 1st 2017 update)

[outie]

i'm pretty sure if these new manual, foldable 2nd row seats were available when i ordered my 7 seater, I would've selected it. That said, the monoposts look awesome and more in line with the "over engineered" X that makes the car look like it is from the future. everything about the X is so over the top that I love it, even if it hinders on utility a little.

If it was available and you needed a 7 seater of course you would've selected it. It would have been the only choice.

The old style is better for family with car seats. I have 2 car seats 1 being a rear facing it's been very useful to access the 3rd row.

On an utility standpoint of course it's not great. However I just went to ikea today and even if it was foldable it wouldn't have fit all the stuff I bought with the 2 kids.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I just went into a store in the UK to ask about the new folding seats and the guy took great pleasure in telling me they wouldn't be available in the UK for 6 months.

The US, Canada and Mexico show the new seats, everywhere else shows the old seats, RHD and LHD.

So I am assuming if your car is being built in California, you would get a new model.

I guess the only possible thing here is, aside from a mistake somewhere, if Tesla is building a different spec for foreign market orders.

I agree that foreign markets show the old text for 7 seater in the Design Studio, but interestingly the new pricing structure. So 7 seater is now cheaper there than a 6 seater (and 6 seater price now includes optional center console), which would suggest the new bench in the 7 seater.

Of course it is possible Tesla just decided to change the pricing and is shipping old seat inventory to foreign markets or is forced by some regulation to do so for a while.

It is also possible they have just not yet updated the Design Studio texts and that the Tesla person @MrAliG spoke with was mistaken.

We shall see.

 

[Freedom101]

So I was at the showroom on West 4th in Vancouver today and they have a White P100D inside with the new 7 seater bench. They advised it was their first one and the employee had not yet had a chance to play around with it much.

Folding the seats to get to the rear row was a bit tricky to figure out at first but no issue after a few minutes of playing around. It definitely did not have as luxurious of feel with everything being manual. Felt like something you'd find in a higher end mini van (oxymoron?) to me.

In the second row,I noticed that there appeared to be a piece missing between the single seat (behind the front passenger) and the middle seat/driver side seat (behind the driver). There was a different material right around where the seatbelt clicks in that also seemed odd. When I folded the passenger side middle seat flat I also noticed I could see a zipper on the corner closest to the falcon wing door (passenger side) as well as some material under the seat cover. Seems the material fit wasn't quite right on this one. Going back in the thread I can't find any pictures that show what I saw today so it's possible it's just this unit. If you are considering getting this bench I would strongly recommend seeing it and trying it in person before pulling the trigger. Personally I was never leaning towards the 7 seater so take it for what it's worth.

It didn't occur to me to take photo's but I'm wishing I had now...

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Big thanks for the interesting report @Freedom101.

There was a different material right around where the seatbelt clicks in that also seemed odd.

Where and what kind was this material?

Overall what you describe does not sound unheard of in premium cars, though. To protect the leather from the metal of the seatbelt, sometimes another felt-like or microfiber-like material is used around where the seatbelt clicks.

 

[boaterva]

Big thanks for the interesting report @Freedom101.



Where and what kind was this material?

Overall what you describe does not sound unheard of in premium cars, though. To protect the leather from the metal of the seatbelt, sometimes another felt-like or microfiber-like material is used around where the seatbelt clicks.

My OA at Tyco will be telling me when they get one of these in the showroom there, as I want to especially see how the seat belt receivers store (to not squash the seat when folding the second row flat). I would have thought they were like the 3rd row seats, where they can 'fold' flush into the seats, but it doesn't seem that way from what we've heard and seen so far. Definitely need some more detailed hands-on. I'll take some photos also, when I get the chance.

 

[Paul Carter]

So I was at the showroom on West 4th in Vancouver today and they have a White P100D inside with the new 7 seater bench. They advised it was their first one and the employee had not yet had a chance to play around with it much.

Folding the seats to get to the rear row was a bit tricky to figure out at first but no issue after a few minutes of playing around. It definitely did not have as luxurious of feel with everything being manual. Felt like something you'd find in a higher end mini van (oxymoron?) to me.

In the second row,I noticed that there appeared to be a piece missing between the single seat (behind the front passenger) and the middle seat/driver side seat (behind the driver). There was a different material right around where the seatbelt clicks in that also seemed odd. When I folded the passenger side middle seat flat I also noticed I could see a zipper on the corner closest to the falcon wing door (passenger side) as well as some material under the seat cover. Seems the material fit wasn't quite right on this one. Going back in the thread I can't find any pictures that show what I saw today so it's possible it's just this unit. If you are considering getting this bench I would strongly recommend seeing it and trying it in person before pulling the trigger. Personally I was never leaning towards the 7 seater so take it for what it's worth.

It didn't occur to me to take photo's but I'm wishing I had now...

Big thanks for the interesting report @Freedom101.



Where and what kind was this material?

Overall what you describe does not sound unheard of in premium cars, though. To protect the leather from the metal of the seatbelt, sometimes another felt-like or microfiber-like material is used around where the seatbelt clicks.

I too was at the store yesterday and spend some time with it.

Yes its a flexible microfiber-like material similar to the 5 seater covering hinges. And boy @Freedom101 is right. I hope the backing finish is just with this poor unit. Personally I wouldn't even put it on the show room floor! I was very disappointed in it. This doesn't seem right at all. Hopefully they'll fix it.

The only nice thing I can say is that the manual sliding of the 2nd row has the benefit of moving quickly for loading passengers into the 3rd row.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Thanks for the info/comments @Paul Carter and @boaterva!

 

[Freedom101]

Where and what kind was this material?

Yes its a flexible microfiber-like material similar to the 5 seater covering hinges

Pretty accurate description from Paul. The only thing I'd add is that it looked like something was missing between the 40 portion of the bench and the 60 portion of the bench near the seat belt clips. Like it was unfinished. Something about it just didn't look right to me even though I get the material change to avoid the rubbing etc.

Anyway, hopefully they clean it up a bit, especially the back of the seat.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Thanks @Freedom101. On the 5-seater bench (basically similar bench), the lower portion of the seats are also quite "rough" when it comes to details like that. Too bad Tesla's inexperience with seating continues to show in very odd ways...

 

[Roxbury]

@All
How to upgrade second row to the folding ones?

Now model X AP2 7-seater

Possible?
Costs?
Any loss of functionality with "old" seats?

Thanks in advance for your respose.

 

[commasign]

@All
How to upgrade second row to the folding ones?

Now model X AP2 7-seater

Possible?
Costs?
Any loss of functionality with "old" seats?

Thanks in advance for your respose.

Unfortunately this won't be possible. Your current 7-seater has motorized monoposts. The new 7-seater has sliding rails. Tesla won't offer retrofit for such a big structural change.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

@Roxbury

Indeed the floor attachments and rails are completely different... as is the carpet. So you need a third party tinkerer like @wk057 type of character...

I doubt there are structural differences beyond different attachment parts. I.e. I would expect a retrofit theoretically being possible. But lots of different parts for sure.

 

[Freedom101]

I was back at the Tesla store today (Vancouver W 4th)to pick up my wall charger (yay!).

I was planning to take some photos to share but they've pulled the white P100D with the new 7 seat bench from the showroom and replaced it with a 6 seater... Not surprising given the finishing work of that particular vehicle. Hopefully it's a one off.

 

[Paul Carter]

I was back at the Tesla store today (Vancouver W 4th)to pick up my wall charger (yay!).

I was planning to take some photos to share but they've pulled the white P100D with the new 7 seat bench from the showroom and replaced it with a 6 seater... Not surprising given the finishing work of that particular vehicle. Hopefully it's a one off.

Yea, I mentioned it to the Store Manager! Glad they pulled it.

 

[abcd2]

Hi, I am the person who got the surprise new model. We actually wanted the old model because we have car seats (although now we are more ok this set up). We were told that there were no more seats of the old model available for a custom build and if we wanted it, we would have to buy an inventory car. So I am assuming if your car is being built in California, you would get a new model. I can't speak for the inventory in the UK. Good luck in figuring things out!

Hi BluX, thanks for the pics and info regarding the new 7 seater - we have one on order and had the same concerns regarding carseats. How is it working for you so far as a family car? What kind of floormats are you going to get? It looks like most people get the ToughPro, but they don't have it for the new config. We were also thinking about Brica seat protectors and getting a storage/kick protector to hang on the back of chairs since does not appear to be a lot of room to store kiddo stuff.

 

[boaterva]

Hi BluX, thanks for the pics and info regarding the new 7 seater - we have one on order and had the same concerns regarding carseats. How is it working for you so far as a family car? What kind of floormats are you going to get? It looks like most people get the ToughPro, but they don't have it for the new config. We were also thinking about Brica seat protectors and getting a storage/kick protector to hang on the back of chairs since does not appear to be a lot of room to store kiddo stuff.

A comment on floor mats: Would ones for the five-seater work for the second row? Perhaps not, since the seven-seater version seat does have tracks and the five doesn't move, if I recall all the permutations correctly.

 

[BluX]

@boaterva


The second row DOES NOT fit. Waiting for new ones. The rest fit.

 

[BluX]

Hi BluX, thanks for the pics and info regarding the new 7 seater - we have one on order and had the same concerns regarding car seats. How is it working for you so far as a family car? What kind of floor mats are you going to get? It looks like most people get the ToughPro, but they don't have it for the new config. We were also thinking about Brica seat protectors and getting a storage/kick protector to hang on the back of chairs since does not appear to be a lot of room to store kiddo stuff.

So far ok, but we have not really been challenged yet because we still have 2 kids in rear facing convertibles and the third row is folded down. Come January, we will be putting 3 in a row with the convertibles forward facing, and an infant car seat rear facing. I am having more challenges learning how to use the FOB, saving seat settings ect.

As I said in an earlier post. I don't think you will get third-row access with the convertibles installed. My initial plan is to have the infant seat on a side seat, and then take out the carrier to gain access (leaving the base installed). We are really hoping that by the time the baby needs to go to a convertible, we will be able to move the twins into a booster. The seats will move up even with a booster with a back attached to them. If we need to transport an adult, one of the kids is moving to the back.

I am not sure Tesla recommends seat covers. We are not using them. Storage would be useful. The new backs look pretty durable, so we are not going to get any protection for those (we are having some work done to the outside of the car next week thanks to the advice from this forum).

We got the Tesla floor mats (manufactured by WeatherTec). They are great, but the second row does not fit. Hoping they will fix that soon.

 

[bluecow82]

The second row backing is definitely not a one off. Just went to look at one. Indeed, the back of the second row is made out of some interesting material, not very Tesla-like. It looks like trunk liner to me. Which is great if you plan on folding them a lot, but not if you have passengers back in the 3rd row quite often. I wish they still offered the monopost option as well, even though I like the fact that now the seats can fold flat if you need them to.
Now, the reason I actually hopped on the forum was to figure out what the zippers do. I was quite curious about that. I noticed them, but they seem to run only on the inside of the seat, where the split happens. At first I thought it's so you can take off the covers and wash them easily. Doesn't seem that's the case. I wish I took photos, but I was in a crazy rush, only had about 10 minutes to look at the back seats (drove almost 2 hours just to find a 7-seater in stock somewhere that I can check out).
Unfortunately, it looks like in the configuration I'm trying to get, they are out of "new inventory" that has the mono post seats, so I'll be stuck with the manual folding ones, if I decide to go with the 7-seater.

 

[inconel]

I don't have the new 7 seater but if I were ordering now I would get it because of the greater cargo space, ability to sleep in the car, and the second-row seat-back can be tilted backward for more passenger comfort.