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Jaff
Active Member
I don't agree with this statement at all smooth...I signed up for a Model S long before I acquired a Roadster...
engle
Member
For those who haven't seen my images of the latest beta, "final", negative-space "open floor console" in my video and photos thread, here they are:
Center open floor storage area:
with carpeting removed: (black plastic)
back of console carpeting showing recycled material:
Arm rests slid back revealing a pair of cupholders: (courtesy of ddenboer)
Since few females have voted in this poll, I decided to vote my wife's preference, which is also for the open floor console where she will put her purse. I think as long as Tesla offers a Model S console storage unit as an accessory like George says they will, they will be able to make almost everybody happy. Perhaps we should start asking: "when will the first Model S accessories catalog be released"?
Center open floor storage area:
with carpeting removed: (black plastic)
back of console carpeting showing recycled material:
Arm rests slid back revealing a pair of cupholders: (courtesy of ddenboer)
Since few females have voted in this poll, I decided to vote my wife's preference, which is also for the open floor console where she will put her purse. I think as long as Tesla offers a Model S console storage unit as an accessory like George says they will, they will be able to make almost everybody happy. Perhaps we should start asking: "when will the first Model S accessories catalog be released"?
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Full Sized stylish sedan- there are several full sized stylish sedans in this segment
Amazing Performance- In this segment most of the sedans have similar performance (E63, M5, etc)
Safety- all cars in this segment are very safe vehicles
Tesla has stated many times publicly that their goal is to design this sedan to be the best in the world. It has to have the complete package to be classified as the "Best on the Planet". Having a console right now that looks like something that belongs in a Chevy Aveo does not satisfy that requirement:
2012: The Year of Model S on Vimeo
engle
Member
See post #83 courtesy of ddenboer for a photo. My recall is that I asked to see the cupholders, and the salesperson from LA slid back the short armrest to reveal them. They are useless if you still want to use your armrest because they are so far back right in front of the seat back basically. I wonder if the cupholder module can be easily removed to create a small covered storage space?
They really should have involved a "customer focus group" to give them feedback on early designs of the Model S interior, IMHO.
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So do they slide further back for some storage under the armrests or is the cup holders it?
Exactly. No offense but I hate when people fall back on the "you'll love how the Model S drives that you won't (or shouldn't) care about anything else". Guess what? Tesla isn't trying to sell just a couple thousand Model S'es as they did with the Roadster. They need to create a car with mass appeal. And a car at this price point with direct competition with the BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and Audis of the world can't afford to have shortcomings that roughly two-thirds of Tesla fans aren't in support of. I have no doubts that I'll love how the Model S drives among many other things with the car. But I'd also love a lot of things about a new car from one of those competitors. Despite all the great things about the Model S I'm not willing to simply overlook what I perceive to be a glaring shortcoming with the interior.
Tommy
Member
Tesla's insistence of having a negative space open console reminds me of Apple's insistence on the one button mouse. Eventually Apple adopted the two button mouse concept and in the process greatly expanded the mouse's capabilities; the magic mouse really is an ergonomic wonder. Unfortunately, I think it took a decade for Apple to officially adopt the 2 button standard; I don't know if I can wait that long for Tesla to do the same to improve it's current incarnation of the open console.
gmontem
Model S P01707
Good luck finding pictures of that one. I asked a rep today about it. You cannot store anything inside the center console.
As a roadster owner, you are not the average Model S purchaser, Jaff.
If the average Model S purchaser is a roadster owner, then the sales volume will be way off the mark for the Model S.
I'm pretty sure you're not an "average" Model S purchaser though. Anyone that can afford a Roadster is out in "exotic car" territory and in a slightly different income class than someone buying a luxury car. Someone that can buy both a Roadster _and_ a Model S, well, you're in some rarefied air. It may not seem like it visiting these forums given the nature of the audience the forums attract, but a pretty huge percentage of even luxury car buyers, which are by nature doing quite well, aren't in your income class.
None of those are EVs though. Your only options until the Model S in the US are the Leaf and until now, the Roadster for a pure EV. I think they mean you can have all of those safety and performace features which Mercedes and BMW definitely have and it's an EV on top of that. I agree that their marketing speak is over the top sometimes but what company doesn't do that? That doesn't make it right but it's advertising. A restaurant saying they have the best burger in America doesn't make it so, they have to have people back that claim up.
Tesla needs to deliver and it looks like they may not have met people's expectations with the interior in the initial version. Other than the interior, it looks like most people are happy with the car and the interior is probably the easier thing to rework for future model years than major engineering work on the powertrain or battery pack. We'll have to wait until production versions are out and people start test driving them and using them on a daily basis I think before making a final judgment. Franz says 'best performance sedan in the marketplace' which could mean a lot of different things to different people. If the Model S matches the performance of the M5 but does it without gas and has the additional storage of the frunk but not a nicer interior, does that make it better or worse? It's a personal judgment in the end. I've still never owned a nicer interior than a Volvo so anything above that will be an upgrade for me so I'm excited. I thought the beta looked nice but have never owned an S class AMG or M5 before.
Jaff
Active Member
Not so at all.
I reserved a Model S long before I was approached with the "lease a Roadster until your Model S is ready program"
I have never owned a vehicle that is considered to be an exotic...highest end car was a Lexus.
My delimma will be working the budget once we have to commit to the Model S to try to keep both vehicles.
I do not subscribe to the "rich boy toy" desciption of Tesla's vehicles nor their clientele...that's pure buncome.
I reserved a Model S long before I was approached with the "lease a Roadster until your Model S is ready program"
I have never owned a vehicle that is considered to be an exotic...highest end car was a Lexus.
My delimma will be working the budget once we have to commit to the Model S to try to keep both vehicles.
I do not subscribe to the "rich boy toy" desciption of Tesla's vehicles nor their clientele...that's pure buncome.
Seriously. Tesla's worst nightmare would be if the average Model S owner were on par with the average Roadster owner, since that would mean it didn't penetrate the broader market.
Sorry, that wasn't what I meant, though you have to be pretty damn well off to afford a Roadster, upper 5% maybe. I meant that you're probably not average simply because average people don't buy Roadsters to begin with. They either don't have money, or the right family situation, etc. Anyone that buys a Roadster is pretty much by definition not statistically likely to represent an average sedan customer.
People that are 6'5" aren't either. Nor people with 5 kids. That doesn't mean any of those opinions aren't valuable, but they're not likely to represent the average buyer.
smorgasbord
Active Member
No offense, but I hate when people who haven't experienced what I'm talking about complain about what I'm talking about.
You're basing that off of the poll on here. The way it was worded, even I voted "Yes, give me some way to keep my stuff organized." because I knew GeorgeB had mentioned they would be coming out with accessories to fill that space for people who wanted it. The poll isn't scientific at all so we have maybe an idea of how a few people on this forum feel but not how the 8,000 reservation holders feel.
You have every right to complain about the interior if that's how you feel and cancel your reservation even. Hopefully Tesla listens to people's concerns and either offers an accessory to fill that space that satisfies enough people or improves the interior with a future model year. This is Tesla's first car from the ground up and while they should be compared to similarly priced cars, a $100,000 Mercedes has a lot more cap room to spend on interior than the Model S at that price which has to put probably 30% of the car's cost just into the battery. I doubt the engine in the Mercedes is 30% of the cost of the car. It's not an excuse for the Model S interior, just one possible explanation.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
Sorry, late to this party; checked out the cars and the Santana Row store in the afternoon. Will post some other thoughts and pics on the thread that Russ Engle started.
Apologies if I'm repeating some of the following; quickly skimmed through the thread.
gmontem is correct. There's absolutely no storage inside the armrest - the armrest halves slide back to reveal the cupholders but do not open otherwise! The rep suggested that it had to do with facilitating the rear vents. Not sure why there had to be two halves then though (almost suggesting that they'd flip open in opposite directions)?! Could have very well been one plank that slides back.
And, the Front USB ports would apparently make their way to the foot of the armrest near the 12V outlet; that'd be consistent with the fact that Rear USB ports would be provided near the rear vents for those who get the Tech Package. So, yes, your phones will be towards the back of the center console area.
Also, although we couldn't open the dash storage area with the button on the White beta, the rep said that he could open it in a different car and it's apparently no bigger and deeper than a stack of Manila folders! So, only the essential stuff - registration, insurance docs, maybe sunglasses and wallets - would fit in there.
Storage, or lack thereof, particularly in the door pockets is a concern. The rear passengers have no storage at all essentially!
Having said all that, loved the open center console with the rails! So roomy and clean looking. ckessel had wondered earlier as to how he'd rest his right leg when driving in cruise mode on the hwy - the lack of a center console allowed me to flex my longish right leg (part of my 6' 1" frame) like never before! It was amazing and something I could obviously never do before in a gas car!
Well no one here has experience driving a Model S, but even if we focus just on the Roadster you're argument proves the point many of us are trying to make. You love the Roadster, a $100k+ car, despite providing a litany of shortcomings. This way of thinking is divergent from the average luxury car buyer. I don't expect a Roadster owner, someone willing to drop over $100k on a car they themselves admit to being far from ideal, to sympathize with my gripes over the Model s interior.
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