Poor rearward visibility?

[insaneoctane]

Maybe this has been discussed, but this is the first picture I've seen that has we wondering about rearward visibility. This picture makes it looks like it might be lousy...

 

[CT200h]

Yeah doesn't look so great . Unless the angle or image is distorted .
Most cars like that design have glass on the back vertical part of the rear hatch.
Prius ? CRX , etc.
I. Would rather have a steel hatch instead of the glass. So I can live with the visibility if it's an issue.

 

[Derek Kessler]

A Tesla with poor rear visibility?!
(admins seriously need to enable standard Unicode emoji support)

But yeah, the rear is high and short, though that's more and more common these days, not just in Teslas.

 

[EV-lutioin]

Compared to the MS and MX the rear visibility looks fantastic!

 

[BluestarE3]

I'll try to find a photo shot from the front passenger seat looking out the rear, but in this photo shot from the outside, there appears to be a lot of glass out back.

 

[EV-lutioin]

I'll try to find a photo shot from the front passenger seat looking out the rear, but in this photo shot from the outside, there appears to be a lot of glass out back.

Those head rests may be an issue with visibility, I suppose you could put the rear seat down unless needed.

 

[Petra]

Rear visibility in most modern sedans is awful and I don't expect the Model 3 to be an exception. It's awful in the S, but the rear facing camera and large screen go a long way toward making up for it.

 

[Az_Rael]

Maybe the smaller center headrest will be removable for when traveling without backseat passengers.

 

[JeffK]

Turn around...

 

[FlyNavy01]

The middle headrest has been removed (or is at least stowable) on all the RC's I've seen so far, which should help.

 

[Retired]

The rear visibility on an S is, in a word, terrible. However, the rear camera is great and as I am still getting used to the small rear view mirror and the fact that the rear headrests are permanent, I leave the camera on while driving. With the mirrors adjusted properly and a little time, it is sufficient but it is something you need to check out before you commit.

 

[Haxster]

The rear visibility on an S is, in a word, terrible.

Yup! I've tried folding down the rear seat backs to remove the headrest from view. But doing this really doesn't help much.

And, for my seating position, the wide "B" pillar on the drivers side creates a huge blind spot when merging into traffic.

 

[Jayc]

Maybe this has been discussed, but this is the first picture I've seen that has we wondering about rearward visibility. This picture makes it looks like it might be lousy...

I think visibility should be okay. The focus on low drag coefficient design and the requirement to maximise rear headroom means we end up with this sort of a raised rear profile, the Model 3 is one of the better (if not best) implementation I have seen.

If they manage to achieve a Cd of 0.21, I will tell you that slight reduction in visibility will be a great compromise because in return, we will get better highway range due to reduced Cd and a decent headroom for back passengers.

 

[bradbissell]

Can't be any worse than the 2016-2017 Volt.

 

[Zaphod]

The middle headrest has been removed (or is at least stowable) on all the RC's I've seen so far, which should help.

Yes, I've noticed it as well, but never really get a good view in any of the latest photos. The middle seat headrest will be able to be lowered when not in use to improve visibility, but raised when seat is occupied. I know what we've seen in the release candidates is different than what was shown of the alphas at the reveal.

 

[BluestarE3]

Yes, I've noticed it as well, but never really get a good view in any of the latest photos. The middle seat headrest will be able to be lowered when not in use to improve visibility, but raised when seat is occupied. I know what we've seen in the release candidates is different than what was shown of the alphas at the reveal.

In these two RC photos, the rear middle headrest appears to have been removed (i.e., stowed). I agree this should really help with rear visibility if you're not typically driving with a full passenger load.

 

[Trips]

You don't need to see out of the back glass when you have a rear view monitor. Yes I know, No New Technology.

 

[ikjadoon]

You don't need to see out of the back glass when you have a rear view monitor. Yes I know, No New Technology.

Which is curious. The $42k Chevy Bolt seems to have tech. that you'd expect in a Silicon Valley company like Tesla:

Camera-based rearview mirror
Surround 360-degree overhead vision
WiFi hotspot
Wireless charging for phones
Android Auto / CarPlay (e.g., you still can't get Spotify in a US 2017 $140,000 P100D)

Tesla's going to get leapfrogged; I still hear about Tesla Model S/X owners (you know, $60k to $140k car owners) who use their phones for navigation.

Maybe Tesla will add in the rearview camera, but doubt it'll be an option on the lowly Model 3. That's a $60k car feature, ya know.

 

[McHoffa]

Can't be worse than my wife's Optima. You can barely see anything in the mirror and backing up would be nearly impossible without the camera.

I definitely think that the Model 3 and especially the S/X should at least have the same tech as the Chevy Bolt. Rear view mirror camera should be in every Tesla.

 

[Waiting4M3]

My girlfriend's cousin in high school does not know how to back up in a car without a rear camera, having learned only with a rear camera-equipped car. So the days of "natural" rear view visibility is numbered. When you're backing up, rely on the camera to not hit anything. When you're driving forward normally, rely on the EV torque to prevent from getting hit from behind. Or, maybe one day, FSD will make this discussion moot.