Model X Mule Sightings

[simplejack]

Um... 1st Generation? Hardly. the Chevy Suburban has been around since the 40s/50s. How about Ford Bronco, Dodge Ramcharger, Plymouth Trailduster, Jeep Wagoneer and Chevrolet Blazer, all 60s/70s. the first "SUV" by today's standards might be the 1984 Jeep Cherokee, according to the Henry Ford Museum transportation curator

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Dang... not a plaid shirt in the bunch! Guy engineers like me though... we still dress with geranimals (sp)

The first generation Q7 was a true SUV vs more of a crossover - that was the point. Not that it was one of the first SUVs.

As for the first SUV, my family has owned many Cherokees and Grand Cherokees and there wasn't much sport about them until my 1999 version of the grand. It was an absolutely horrible quality vehicle, but it handled well both on and off road. If the first SUV was the Cherokee, I wonder if the first CUV was the AMC Eagle?

 

[vandacca]

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_28638859/photos-black-tesla-model-x-cruises-i-880

San Jose Mercury News
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I see they have decided to use Duct Tape now! Interesting choice of materials. Has anyone seen any duct tape on a Tesla mule until now? I certainly don't recall them ever using it. I wonder what it means?

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I see they have decided to use Duct Tape now! Interesting choice of materials. Has anyone seen any duct tape on a Tesla mule until now? I certainly don't recall them ever using it. I wonder what it means?

I haven't seen that much used before, but Tesla has used what looked like a triangular piece of duct tape to cover to B pillar top corner of the front window on some mules, presumably to hide something in this area and/or to attach testing equipment.

 

[ecarfan]

Thanks Nigel. This is amusing, from the article, quote: "The all-electric vehicle, which is expected to be priced somewhere between $55,000 and $75,000". Technically correct but a bit of research would have found repeated statements by Elon that the X would start at "several thousand" more than the base S, so at least $74K
Great tweet from Tesla showing that they have lots of female "engineers" too.

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_28638859/photos-black-tesla-model-x-cruises-i-880
Guess the San Jose Mercury missed this tweet yesterday:
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[lucy]

Might be an effect of droughty CA sunshine bleaching them out, but the green stickers look white today.
Is that a step forward or a step back?

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Red - yellow - Green - white - LAUNCH!?!?

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:biggrin:

 

[CmdrThor]

Great tweet from Tesla showing that they have lots of female "engineers" too.

Are the men engineers, but the females are "engineers"? Not sure I understand the quotes around engineers.

 

[Blue_Model_S]

Model X spotted in Milpitas (Bay area), CA

Photos: Black Tesla Model X takes the slow lane on I-880 in Milpitas - San Jose Mercury News

 

[apacheguy]

Some look awfully young to me. Fresh out of college, or high school perhaps? Maybe an internship program?

 

[vandacca]

Some look awfully young to me. Fresh out of college, or high school perhaps? Maybe an internship program?

I know I'm getting old, but I thought it may have been a "bring your daughter to work" day. Everyone around me is looking younger and younger all the time. :crying:

 

[Lyon]

Are the men engineers, but the females are "engineers"? Not sure I understand the quotes around engineers.

Probablt a misuse of quotation marks, pretty common these days. It's funny how many people use quotation marks as a way of placing emphasis or to point out when something isn't their opinion. If it's not the actual thing someone else said or wrote it doesn't get quotations and I don't see engineer by it self anywhere in that post.

Personally, I went to college at Vanderbilt which has a good engineering program. We had some whip smart engineering students, many of whom just happened to also be women. Tesla hiring qualified people, regardless of gender, doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[ecarfan]

Are the men engineers, but the females are "engineers"? Not sure I understand the quotes around engineers.

I was merely quoting Tesla's tweet and emphasizing that the label "engineers" applies to both sexes even though some people associate it with men only.

Probablt a misuse of quotation marks, pretty common these days. It's funny how many people use quotation marks as a way of placing emphasis or to point out when something isn't their opinion. If it's not the actual thing someone else said or wrote it doesn't get quotations and I don't see engineer by it self anywhere in that post

Not a misuse. Usage changes over time. Quote marks are not limited to quoting text, they have other uses.

 

[ggr]

Probablt a misuse of quotation marks, pretty common these days. It's funny how many people use quotation marks as a way of placing emphasis or to point out when something isn't their opinion. If it's not the actual thing someone else said or wrote it doesn't get quotations and I don't see engineer by it self anywhere in that post.

Personally, I went to college at Vanderbilt which has a good engineering program. We had some whip smart engineering students, many of whom just happened to also be women. Tesla hiring qualified people, regardless of gender, doesn't surprise me at all.

People seem to be assuming that these women are not serious engineers. I think you're wrong. As long ago as the original factory tour, I was speaking to a number of young women, and one of them was in charge of the brake system integration, another was doing power electronics, and a couple were software engineers. (My brother, a Civil Engineer, would dispute that there are such things as software engineers, but I count them.) Young people these days look... young! I'm prepared to bet that the women in that photo are all real engineers, and probably only a subset of them. At my previous employer, there were a number of women who would NOT join the WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) group, because they didn't want to be perceived as "female engineers" rather than "real engineers". I'm sorry to see this kind of attitude expressed here.

 

[bonnie]

They're serious engineers. I know two of the women in that photo. They have impressive resumes and Tesla is lucky to have them.

 

[Lyon]

I was merely quoting Tesla's tweet and emphasizing that the label "engineers" applies to both sexes even though some people associate it with men only.
Not a misuse. Usage changes over time. Quote marks are not limited to quoting text, they have other uses.

Well, the outcome of your new and improved use of quotation marks has been a great deal of confusion as to what was meant.

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People seem to be assuming that these women are not serious engineers. I think you're wrong. As long ago as the original factory tour, I was speaking to a number of young women, and one of them was in charge of the brake system integration, another was doing power electronics, and a couple were software engineers. (My brother, a Civil Engineer, would dispute that there are such things as software engineers, but I count them.) Young people these days look... young! I'm prepared to bet that the women in that photo are all real engineers, and probably only a subset of them. At my previous employer, there were a number of women who would NOT join the WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) group, because they didn't want to be perceived as "female engineers" rather than "real engineers". I'm sorry to see this kind of attitude expressed here.

I hope I'm correct and no one here is implying that these engineers aren't legitimate because of their gender. As I said, it certainly makes sense for Tesla to hire the best engineers they can get and that many of those will be women.

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They're serious engineers. I know two of the women in that photo. They have impressive resumes and Tesla is lucky to have them.

upvote.

 

[NigelM]

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No speculation on what that hole in the rear bumper is for? The tow hitch we saw on other mules (plural?) was way lower down.

 

[mzpolo]

People seem to be assuming that these women are not serious engineers. I think you're wrong.

Not sure where the assumption is coming from that the pictured women are not serious engineers. I don't think that is wrong... I KNOW its wrong. I don't know a soul in the picture but I can guarantee that each and every person in the picture is proud to be at Tesla and proud to be an Engineer.

Can I start the "Best engineering school" argument??!!??
SUNY Maritime! #5 on Forbes 25 Colleges With the Best Return on Investment

5. SUNY Maritime College 30-year ROI: $1,586,000 Typical starting salary: $59,000

Yea, I am bias and will sheepishly admit that Caltech is #2 30-year ROI: $1,991,000 Typical starting salary: $67,400

 

[Sosius]

They're serious engineers. I know two of the women in that photo. They have impressive resumes and Tesla is lucky to have them.

Right on! My 11 year-old daughter wants to be an engineer so she can "prevent oil spills BEFORE they happen, not just clean up the mess." I showed her the Tesla ILookLikeAnEngineer tweet and she thought it was awesome.

After reading some of the comments here and the rant from a dude in another thread about how women don't understand automotive technology or the internet (My 2 day old P85D suddenly died in the middle of an intersection - Page 32), I am flabbergasted that some of the men on this forum are still living in the Mad Men era, at least in their minds. I have never quoted the Grateful Dead before, but "that's right, the women are smarter!"

 

[cantdecide]

When I read "engineer type" I read it as "not a suit" I.e. the newspaper is reporting about someone in a plaid or checked shirt (or perhaps from that tweet from Tesla it might have been horizontal stripes)... I'm not quite sure how gender came into this topic.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

No speculation on what that hole in the rear bumper is for? The tow hitch we saw on other mules (plural?) was way lower down.

Earlier in this thread, I speculated that it is rear-facing laser for autopilot based on pictures of a Model S that was outfitted with similar testing equipment.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

No speculation on what that hole in the rear bumper is for? The tow hitch we saw on other mules (plural?) was way lower down.

The bumper hole has been speculated and not much new to say here. Rear radar testing is possible, and folding hitch mechanism testing was speculated too (common in Europe at least, e.g. on Audi factory hitches).