I bought the full Model S kit and installed it last week. It was a little pain to install but not impossible. I used a plastic trim removal tool which worked well. It's much brighter than the stock bulbs so I do notice a difference. It's a little spendy at $170 but I think a worthwhile upgrade. I've done LED upgrades in previous cars and notice LED bulbs are prone to burn out and don't last as long you'd expect. Hopefully these will last. I'll post an update in 6 months.
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Thanks! The first ones shipped ~18 months ago, and no complaints of burn-outs; obviously, with 30,000+ in the wild there's going to be a few failures, but overall the failure rate is way less than 1%, and about 65% are of out the box, so the chances of a failure once installed are small. We didn't cut any corners to save expense when designing these, all the components are OEM-spec (our manufacture also supplies millions of bulbs to a 'large German manufacturer'). Either way, we warranty for two years, so you're covered 
dandelot
Member
Cool. On previous builds of the MS (my first was an early 2013) the hatch light was my test location as it was so easy to pop out. But more recently that spot has become a LOT tighter, on my mid-2016 I can just about get it out with the spudger, but you really have to dig it in, and it's a lot easier with a screw driver if you don't mind (potentially) cracking the OEM bulb on exit.
Here's the prototype:
The bulb assembly is a little deeper to get the focal range, but otherwise exactly the same form-factor. The picture above was taken in a relatively dark garage, in broad daylight the image is barely visible. I'd be interested in knowing what kinds of images you'd all want projected (the "T" as shown, maybe X, S, Tesla, Model S etc etc).
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
Pete --- COOL VERY COOL. I know many people that will want these. Keep up the good development.
Okay since you asked. Here's what's needed. What I know I want. I want that T in Red. And I would also like to see Tesla in Red.
You know the light/lamp in the top of the liftgate is worthless for lighting the trunk. I would like to see one of these bulbs/lights focus the T down into the trunk floor when the liftgate is open. You know that's 2-3X further distance than the distance from the bottom of the door to the asphalt, so this lamp focus would be completely different than the ones in the door. I believe people would really like this T-shining into the bottom of the trunk when the liftgate is open.
What say you folks? You too like that idea? Please speak up so Pete will know if he should work on this?
Doing them in red wouldn't be a problem. A future version could include RGB LEDs (with a simple controller), I already have those for the normal bulbs, so it would be fairly easy, but obviously it adds to the unit cost.
The T shining into the trunk is a great idea. The only challenge would be (assuming you're using the AO LED lights;-)) is that the image would be washed out by the brighter lights, especially as the truck material is very non-reflective, practically a light sponge, in fact. It's something I can experiment with though.
The T shining into the trunk is a great idea. The only challenge would be (assuming you're using the AO LED lights;-)) is that the image would be washed out by the brighter lights, especially as the truck material is very non-reflective, practically a light sponge, in fact. It's something I can experiment with though.
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
Good point. Since you are already talking about a controller for colors, maybe we need a controller for the trunk LED lights so we can remotely turn them off to show the new liftgate T-light. (I'm in.)
I like the T, leaning slightly towards the white (so they can still function as puddle lights). RGB would be nice too. Oh heck just shut up and take my money.
Bruce.
JPP
Active Member
Gimme a white T--simple yet elegant, still an effective light at night. Will need 8 (2 Model S).
idealsol
Member
I did play around with the trunk T idea last night. There's multiple challenges though. First, there's almost zero clearance behind the factory/AO bulb in that location, so it would need to be a different form-factor that stands proud of the hatch trim but at least 20mm. That could be made to look fairly integrated, but we're potentially into diminishing returns at this point, as the R&D effort would be more costly. It also has to be angled, as currently it projects half in and half out of the trunk, so that means one side would be nearer 30mm, and potentially the entire thing would need to pivot to allow for those that don't open their trunk fully. So, as much as I like the idea, it's probably a non-starter for now :-(
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
I see your point and I don't disagree. Months ago when I installed those generic cylindrical logo lights, I took one and tried to put it in the liftgate. I had the advantage because I had that big horseshoe trim inside the liftgate already off my S. (I was installing the wiring for the lighted rear applique). Yes, you are correct there is almost no extra room. But, but what about if the new OA T-shining logo light wasn't flush but stood out away from the trim? Since there's so little room on the inside, don't make it flat/flush with the trim.
I say again, I would certainly buy a OA T-shining logo light for my liftgate. Please make my T that shines into my trunk black carpet a bright white, please. Don't give up Pete.
My son discovered electroluminescent wiring at the Maker Faire this past weekend. He asked me to suggest that @pete8314 do "something" with electroluminescent lighting, like maybe something you can piggyback off the existing trunk wiring connectors and run on the sides of the trunk or something that like. Plus have a remote control for it. I did mention to him that this idea might not be as obvious a win as the red light bulb idea was...
Bruce.
Bruce.
Ha. Interesting idea, but I'm struggling to think of anything non-cheesy that it could be used for. I think most EL wire needs an inverter, which adds a small complication.My son discovered electroluminescent wiring at the Maker Faire this past weekend. He asked me to suggest that @pete8314 do "something" with electroluminescent lighting, like maybe something you can piggyback off the existing trunk wiring connectors and run on the sides of the trunk or something that like. Plus have a remote control for it. I did mention to him that this idea might not be as obvious a win as the red light bulb idea was...
Bruce.
It is, there's really no limitation to what can form the projected image. The use of the logo could be an issue though, I know others obviously do it, and eBay has no shortage of crappy t-shirt with the logo stamped on them, but I need to be careful in this area. It's not that I've not tried to work something out with Tesla, but they have zero interest. The difference here (arguably) is that this would not be a competing product with anything they sell.
Nosken
Active Member
Can you have the text "TESLA" on the light with the logo? Would it be too small to be cleanly legible?
Yup. The about of light it would give out would be quite low though. We've been experimenting with the inverse of the T shown in the photos (so a white disk with black T in the middle), but you lose the sharpness in the logo (but gain better puddle lights...). the best option is lightly to be the brightest possible version of the white T shown above, although there's additional considerations in terms of heat, and the projection film that we need to test a little more.
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