Tail Light Retrofit

[Krash]

Anyone contemplating an upgrade to the newest Model S tail lamp? Replacing the charge port door should be toughest and most expensive. Anyone know if the mounting points to the body are the same? Same wiring?

Modifying or replacing the rear strip should be easy. I assume the rear lights and right body side lamp swap is straight forward.

There is a remote chance that the wider body is a different shape in the rear. That could be a problem.

 

[NewbyMaybe]

I was going to measure a new taillight because the charge port area is larger. If it can be swapped then there could be room for Tesla and ccs socket.

 

[BPeter]

The openings in the body body appear to be exactly the same to me. The charge port is likely going to be an issue though. Back when the EPC showed both styles they looked quite different and I believe included different busbars down to the battery pack.

 

[NewbyMaybe]

I'm sure the bigger port area is due to oversea's ccs demand.

 

[BPeter]

I'm sure the bigger port area is due to oversea's ccs demand.

The charge port area is isn't actually larger with regards to the exterior body panels. It's just that the charge port extends further back into the taillight than it used to, this allows a larger area to install the charge port into.

I think it is mounted an inch or two further towards the rear of the car than it used to be, and this is why it has a different busbar than the old port. The metal below it might have different cutouts too.

I don't think this retrofit is feasible.

 

[Krash]

…this is why it has a different busbar than the old port. The metal below it might have different cutouts too…

There isn’t a bus bar that extends to the chargeport on the gen1 or gen2. But because the mounting holes are different on those two, it seems likely that the mounting holes for gen3 will also be different.

I guess there could also be a gateway configuration setting for genX chargeport.

If any 2021 refresh S owners stumble on this thread and want to pull the fabric down covering the chargeport back, and take a photo, we’d see. Here is what the gen1 looks like installed, as well as a gen1 (left) and gen2 (right) on a bench.

(photos from here)

 

[BPeter]

There isn’t a bus bar that extends to the chargeport on the gen1 or gen2. But because the mounting holes are different on those two, it seems likely that the mounting holes for gen3 will also be different.
View attachment 853309
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This is the pre-Palladium Model S?
I am pretty sure they switched to busbars in the Palladium S. Easier to assemble.

Part #7

Back when the Palladium parts catalog was first uploaded there were two versions of the busbar showing in the diagram, along with two different charge ports visible in the HV inlet diagram. They quickly scrubbed those when we saw that there would be an upcoming update to the charge port and lights.

They haven't reverted the diagrams but they have added the second busbar and second (new) charge port back in to the list of items.

 

[Krash]

…They haven't reverted the diagrams but they have added the second busbar and second (new) charge port back in to the list of items.

Still, might be possible to mount the old cables to the new chargeport assembly designed for bus bars. Just seems unlikely that the mount points to the frame align.