Model X Mule Sightings

[Zapped]

I am amazed at the tenacity of the forum members that find this stuff.
I was just watching this show tonight and would have never spotted that one.
A Model X no less. Amazing

 

[lucy]

Agree, Zapped.

I LOL'D when I saw the photo & post.

If only we could harness this power for good!

 

[FlatSix911]

Thanks for the photos, FlatSix911!

Good shots, FlatSix911. Thank you for sharing.
I did find Local host's quote interesting too - and would add some credence to the idea that nose is the most biggest certain unknown after the interior of the Model X:

Actually. If this was a parked car. Why not more pictures? Directly from front? Interior?

and......another one with no pics of the interior...

Maybe the hounds were approaching...

But were the hounds wearing plaid shirts? Or did they have green stickers on their collars?

Glad to share my photos and I enjoyed the commentary and speculation.
Here is the story with the exterior shots ... as I approached the car, an engineer inside the car with a plaid shirt started to look a bit concerned.
If you look closely you can see the fellow in the drivers seat. I decided quickly that a swift exit was the best option - interior photos next time!

 

[AnxietyRanger]

FlatSix911: Thank you for the added insight!

Could you post a higher-resolution crop of the tires? So we could make out the sizes better? Thank you.

- - - Updated - - -

from my latest hunt for pics.
https://twitter.com/powdbyrice/status/631538784983584768
https://twitter.com/gerardodm/status/631329471421792256

Thank you. While not great quality, the latter image is actually nice and a bit rare (angle-wise) because it shows quite a frontal image.

 

[vandacca]

There is something strange in this image...

The words on the pavement, "Engineering Car", is reflected on the front bumper and I find it very strange how the words wrap and are clearly reflected deep into the recesses of the air intakes. I can't imagine a way that light can bounce in order for that to happen. At first I thought it was stenciled into the air intake. I'm sure it's nothing and there is a valid explanation...

 

[roblab]

There is something strange in this image...
View attachment 90424
The words on the pavement, "Engineering Car", is reflected on the front bumper and I find it very strange how the words wrap and are clearly reflected deep into the recesses of the air intakes. I can't imagine a way that light can bounce in order for that to happen. At first I thought it was stenciled into the air intake. I'm sure it's nothing and there is a valid explanation...

Looks like they hit an animal (armadillo, possum, large squirrel, etc) and then before cleaning up the front bumper, they just stuck black wrap around it. Or maybe it's a pod stuck to the front for the new long range radar. It's just in testing, and won't be on the X until a few years out. No, I see it now, it's one of those pink mustaches used on the the Uber taxi cars, but has black film over it.

Ask Bonnie. She probably knows, but has signed an NDA. Maybe she will give some obtuse obfuscative hints.

 

[ohmman]

There is something strange in this image...

I guess that proves it. Huge battery with loads of mass in the MX.

 

[NigelM]

Looks like they hit an animal (armadillo, possum, large squirrel, etc) and then before cleaning up the front bumper, they just stuck black wrap around it. Or maybe it's a pod stuck to the front for the new long range radar.

Or maybe it's camo? ;-)

 

[scaesare]

There is something strange in this image...
View attachment 90424

The words on the pavement, "Engineering Car", is reflected on the front bumper and I find it very strange how the words wrap and are clearly reflected deep into the recesses of the air intakes. I can't imagine a way that light can bounce in order for that to happen. At first I thought it was stenciled into the air intake. I'm sure it's nothing and there is a valid explanation...

That looks like an air intake, because of the direction the words appear to be reflecting in, but it's not. It's a standard nosecone shape, which means it's angling down from the "tip" of the nosecone towards the lower fascia. In other words, the angle of incidence from the pavement stenciling to the lower nosecone surface is probably 30-45 degrees.

As a result the reflection is to our ~10 o'clock perspective (starting from the lower lip of the cone where the angle changes). Due to the all-black, it appears to be entering a void/intake from the front of the car. But it's not.. there is no concave intake there. It's actually convex.

 

[JST]

There is something strange in this image...
View attachment 90424
The words on the pavement, "Engineering Car", is reflected on the front bumper and I find it very strange how the words wrap and are clearly reflected deep into the recesses of the air intakes. I can't imagine a way that light can bounce in order for that to happen. At first I thought it was stenciled into the air intake. I'm sure it's nothing and there is a valid explanation...

I think you're looking at the image and seeing the piece reflecting "Engineering Car" as concave. I'm pretty sure it's not; it looks convex to me, which would make the reflection make sense.

EDIT: or what scaesare said.

 

[3s-a-charm]

Model X in background of Extant 8/12/15

View attachment 90327

How is this even possible? Is this show made in the future?? ;-)

 

[ev-enthusiast]

How is this even possible? Is this show made in the future?? ;-)

This is crazy, just look at the door handles!

 

[vandacca]

That looks like an air intake, because of the direction the words appear to be reflecting in, but it's not. It's a standard nosecone shape, which means it's angling down from the "tip" of the nosecone towards the lower fascia. In other words, the angle of incidence from the pavement stenciling to the lower nosecone surface is probably 30-45 degrees.

As a result the reflection is to our ~10 o'clock perspective (starting from the lower lip of the cone where the angle changes). Due to the all-black, it appears to be entering a void/intake from the front of the car. But it's not.. there is no concave intake there. It's actually convex.

Maybe its too early in the morning here, but I'm having trouble doing the mental gymnastics required to see how the reflection could possibly work. I think the fact that the heavily distorted lower portion is separated from the upper crisp/clear upper portion by a distinct and sharp edge, is messing things up for me. What's more, the whole bumper has a very shiny, reflective surface, but the passenger side of the bumper has a roundish area with a matte finish as if someone may have used a "retouch" brush on it (or fixed it with some bondo filler).

--update--

I looked at some older mule photos and have seen the exact same effect with the white lines on the road, and with some photo enhancing, I was able to determine that there is a horizontal strip (below where the Tesla 'T' badge would be) that is of a different angle/shape than the lower bumper. Whether its more convex or concave than the bumper, I'm still having difficulty seeing it, but it does appear that there this strip may be the last remnants of a nose cone. Also, in this photo, the whole bumper is reflective and I don't see any matte bondo on the passenger-side of the bumper.

Thanks for helping me see this.

 

[cgiGuy]

How is this even possible? Is this show made in the future?? ;-)

From an interview with series creator Mickey Fisher:
"What year is the show supposed to be set in? It’s not entirely made clear in the pilot.
Fisher: We’ve always kind of thought of it as 20 to 30 years out — in the classic term of the genre, the not-too-distant future."

Timeline seems about right with Model X deliveries.

 

[Sosius]

This is crazy, just look at the door handles!

Extant must be set WAY in the future, because they actually got the door handles to line up! :wink:

Gawd, I love this thread...

 

[ecarfan]

That is likely the white X prototype. I think I saw it in the first episode of Extant.

Model X in background of Extant 8/12/15

View attachment 90327

 

[timf]

That is likely the white X prototype. I think I saw it in the first episode of Extant.

The white concept prototype was used heavily in the first season of Extant. It's been absent so far this year until these latest sightings. There hasn't been much in the way of true electric cars at all this year except for a Mercedes Benz B-Class. It's mostly been whirring sounds dubbed over ICE vehicles.

 

[Lyon]

With regards to Lyon's interpretation, I can see how the second digit of the width could look like a 6. However, when you compare it to the first digit of the aspect ratio they seem to match. Since 65 is not a plausible number for the aspect ratio with 20" wheels, it seems far more likely to be 245/45R20 than 265/45R20.

Those tires come in both 245/45 R20 and 265/46 R20 so no help with simply looking at availability.

It just looks like a 6 to me. Also, this is an SUV not a sedan. Model S comes with 245 width tires and I would expect Model X to have larger ones. Also, comparable vehicles, like the Q7 have even larger tires on the 20" wheel (275). Add that to my earlier though that it looks like a 6 and it makes me think they're 265s.

I could very well be wrong but, to me, 265 makes more sense than 245.

 

[mzpolo]

Extant must be set WAY in the future, because they actually got the door handles to line up! :wink:

Gawd, I love this thread...

Ha... Nice poke in the eye to the FrankenX assembly team

 

[wheresmyx?]

From an interview with series creator Mickey Fisher:
"What year is the show supposed to be set in? It’s not entirely made clear in the pilot.
Fisher: We’ve always kind of thought of it as 20 to 30 years out — in the classic term of the genre, the not-too-distant future."

Timeline seems about right with Model X deliveries.

That last line is both brutal and humorous!