Model X Mule Sightings

[gizmoboy]

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Rear tail lights camoflaged with matching blue tape?

 

[Larken]

I don't think any of these are final versions. If they were, they would be much more camouflaged. Wrapping on the nosecone and rear bumper does not a camouflaged car make. I still think the final version will be a good amount different than what we have seen so far. I feel like I'm in the minority with this opinion but I feel strongly about it. I base my hypothesis on the statements from Elon about Tesla final production cars being nicer than concept and the fact that they are driving around in essentially exposed cars with all kinds of mismatched peices. The prototype was unveiled in 2012 so that design is already 3 years old.

I think we are all going to be blown-away when it's finally revealed.

I'm with you on this one. I think the design of the X will be much better looking and different than the mules we're seeing. When Elon says the X will be the most awesome SUV/CUV then I am ready to be blown away, in all aspects. Also remember, Elon is known to be a perfectionist.

 

[donv]

Does Tesla have their own crash test facility?

I would assume they would take them somewhere, maybe in Michigan or Arizona, but not Tesla headquarters... sales and service training seems far more likely.

 

[Lyon]

Okay, those are new tail-lights. Overall, very nice.

I think they're the same ones as on the video with the blue (probably this) car we got a couple days ago. Definitely different than the black and white mules we're seeing these days. I'm guessing these are more closely related to, if not actually, the final lights.

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Rear tail lights camoflaged with matching blue tape?

It's almost as if they're plasti-dipping the lights in body color and then just scraping off the amount they need to have the legally required lights peeking through. They all seem to have something on the lights.

 

[NigelM]

Don't recall if we've seen this pic before:

 

[AudubonB]

I GOT IT!
The pesky so-called gap at the trailing edge of the falcon doors that so many of you have been bemoaning.

I know what it is.

That is TM's wind-tunnel-proven newfangled vortex generator. Brings the Cd down to an unheard-of 0.05.

As always, ya heard it here first.

Can I go back to my summertime hibernation now? See yaz'all in not much more than a month.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I'm with you on this one. I think the design of the X will be much better looking and different than the mules we're seeing. When Elon says the X will be the most awesome SUV/CUV then I am ready to be blown away, in all aspects. Also remember, Elon is known to be a perfectionist.

One thing is certain - depending on the outcome of this, we either take Elon much more or much less literally in the future.

 

[Lyon]

Does Tesla have their own crash test facility?

I would assume they would take them somewhere, maybe in Michigan or Arizona, but not Tesla headquarters... sales and service training seems far more likely.

Not to mention that crash testing a mule would be of limited usefulness in determining the final crash worthiness of the vehicle. Certainly they could learn something but to really know how the final thing is going to do in an accident they need to crash the car they're going to release.

Frankly, the same goes for sales and service training. There's no point in training the techs on a car that's not complete, right? Unless everything under the skin is as it will be on those vehicles, which I doubt, they'd just have to retrain folks once the real thing is available.

I dunno, maybe those cars are all headed to be crash tested or used to tech techs, I can just think of reasons why that doesn't makes sense. In the end it could just be that all the drivers fancied a drive in the same direction.... or they're deliberately doing it to f*ck with us.

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Don't recall if we've seen this pic before:
View attachment 91261

Hmmm, I don't think so. Got a bigger version?

 

[1208]

The silence from several forum members is deafening, too busy driving their X's.

 

[NigelM]

Hmmm, I don't think so. Got a bigger version?

https://instagram.com/p/6iVMq1AHDp/x

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And another I don't recall:
https://instagram.com/p/6SQCPZRgfZ/x

 

[Lyon]

https://instagram.com/p/6iVMq1AHDp/x

Looks like the same plate as the other blue picture. That's not to say they didn't swap plates but...

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https://instagram.com/p/6iVMq1AHDp/x

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And another I don't recall:
https://instagram.com/p/6SQCPZRgfZ/x
View attachment 91263

I think I've seen that one before.

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Haha! Or maybe they actually had to, you know, work?

 

[Yggdrasill]

The recent cars don't seem to have a tow hitch. That increases the possibility of the tow hitch being retractable.

Though it might just be that the first release candidates off the line aren't fitted with this option to minimize risk.

 

[Trev Page]

I'm with you on this one. I think the design of the X will be much better looking and different than the mules we're seeing. When Elon says the X will be the most awesome SUV/CUV then I am ready to be blown away, in all aspects. Also remember, Elon is known to be a perfectionist.

Wow, you guys are really setting yourselves up for disappointment. What you see is the final car. Tesla does not have the resources to maintain a separate fleet of secret Model Xs with a completely different design. That's not how things work.

Oh well, at least you'll be surprised a little bit when the interior is revealed

 

[timf]

Looks like the same plate as the other blue picture. That's not to say they didn't swap plates but...

It appears to be the same as this one. It's not the same as 16J which doesn't have the bumper wrap.

 

[WestCoastP85D]

Totally. This company does not have the resources to conduct a fake prototype parade. IMO, this IS the car. I don't get the taillights.... one bar of red lights? Something is out of kilter here...

 

[Trev Page]

One thing is certain - depending on the outcome of this, we either take Elon much more or much less literally in the future.

One thing is for sure: the doubters will finally understand that Tesla is a creature of habit. Production cars look just like the prototypes with minor exterior improvements. It's the interiors that change.

You're taking Elons statement that "our production cars will always be better than the prototypes" as mistaken for them looking totally different. This is totally false

 

[AB4EJ]

Wow, you guys are really setting yourselves up for disappointment. What you see is the final car. Tesla does not have the resources to maintain a separate fleet of secret Model Xs with a completely different design. That's not how things work.

Oh well, at least you'll be surprised a little bit when the interior is revealed

I agree. This is either late preproduction or early production, and there will not be any substantial changes when production ramps up. Remember, the target is to get at least some production vehicles built in Q3, which ends Sep 30; there is not time to rework sheet metal (which requires massive, time-consuming changes to tooling) between now and then.

 

[J1mbo]

The recent cars don't seem to have a tow hitch. That increases the possibility of the tow hitch being retractable.



Though it might just be that the first release candidates off the line aren't fitted with this option to minimize risk.

Probably not fitted with the option- the bumper isn't camo'd and you cant see any evidence of a cutout.

 

[Paul Carter]

Okay, those are new tail-lights. Overall, very nice.

Yea I'm loving it. Just the plastic over the wheel well isn't turning my crank.

 

[AB4EJ]

The recent cars don't seem to have a tow hitch. That increases the possibility of the tow hitch being retractable.

Though it might just be that the first release candidates off the line aren't fitted with this option to minimize risk.

The tow hitch would not show anyway; they will use a recessed receiver just like the Mercedes SUVs (which means it does not protrude outside the surface of the bumper fascia). What we did at Mercedes was to install a fascia which looks like there is no hitch; when you want the hitch, you pop out a panel and bolt the receiver to the actual bumper (which is steel or thick aluminum and acts as a sub-frame). The hitch itself slides into the receiver (which has a square cross-section) and is locked in place with a pin.