Ventilated Seats option is quietly removed from the "Premium Package"

[cclaygo]

A luxury car must have this option. In two years when I trade my X in for another X, I expect it to have this option. I hope it's just a glitch. My only complaint with my 2013 S was the lack of cooled seats.

 

[K-MTG]

The perforated seats on my MDX didn't really work and made more noise, I have the same experience in my X

 

[RollinMS]

My Lexus F Sport had the ventilated options. You can actively feel air rushing from the perforation. In fact when I move my back off the seat it blows my shirt and makes it flap in the wind

 

[dampfred]

Same.

While I considered asking for a special order to do PUP but without the perforated seats on our Model X order two weeks ago, 1) that's a hassle and takes me away from the ease of one-click car ordering, and 2) there's a chance they slip up and the factory misses the exception and still builds it with perforated seats and I'm stuck with it.

With two young kids, my wife and I very much do not want the perforated seats and it would have been a deal breaker to end up with them.

Long time lurker, perhaps a weird first post. But I actually tried to do what you considered and was told they couldn't build a PUP car without the ventilation/perforated seats when I ordered back in September. So I ended up same as you - opting out of PUP.

 

[ABC2D]

On a side note, are there people who will not consider a Tesla because of the lack of ventilated seats?

I wouldn't. But, I would consider dropping the PUP if ventilated seats option is not included.

 

[AMN]

On a side note, are there people who will not consider a Tesla because of the lack of ventilated seats?

Tesla has reached the point where in order to justify $165,000 price, they have to start adding options not removing them. I recently took a look at a $160k S-class and... d*mn, Tesla has some homework to do!

 

[vandacca]

I have mapped the (number of X options) against (time) and at this rate, there will only be 2 options left (black?, white?) by June 16, 2018.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Imagine what Merceded would charge you if you asked them to replace their ICE engine for full electric drive.

As a side note, even though Tesla eliminated the white paint option, they said they will still paint my X white and honor their original specification.

Only Tesla knows for sure why they stopped offering the ventilated seats.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

It isn't just lack of interior options. It is lack of interior features.

I get it that coming from a lower-end it may not be so apparent, but compare a loaded A8/7 Series/S Class with a Model S/X - heck even the model classes beneath those - and the interiors and interior features are simply on a different planet.

Tesla is going the wrong way recently...

 

[andrewket]

A luxury car with no option for ventilated seats. PUP price remains the same with the removal. More profits yay.

On a side note, are there people who will not consider a Tesla because of the lack of ventilated seats?

I remember a few people who were delayed their orders a few months because they thought ventilated seats were coming. I would be surprised if anyone would not order the car at all because of it. Of course if you believe Tesla is going to release an improved version, perhaps people will wait for that now. It's a never ending game with Tesla.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I remember a few people who were delayed their orders a few months because they thought ventilated seats were coming. I would be surprised if anyone would not order the car at all because of it. Of course if you believe Tesla is going to release an improved version, perhaps people will wait for that now. It's a never ending game with Tesla.

Elon said at some point - in response to a question or comment about lack of Tesla model years - that the best time to buy a Tesla is always "now".

Equally one could argue it is: never.

With this level of random giveth and taketh, it is very hard to choose a good time to buy, beyond some big ticket items such as AP2.

 

[Ormond]

I have had ventilated seats on my last three or four luxury cars. It's hard to imagine a $80,000+ car without them.

 

[jeffro01]

This is absurd... Yet another fail by Tesla with ZERO communication as to why... People waited YEARS to have the ventilated seat option and for it to simply be removed without any explanation as to why is mind boggling... A car that costs this much shouldn't be without this optional equipment, it just shouldn't...

I don't understand why Tesla keeps doing these things that make no sense, or if there is a logical reason, why they refuse to communicate that to anyone?

I badly want to order a Model X, but Tesla keeps making it damn difficult to do so...

Can anyone think of a reason why they would do this?

Jeff

 

[polymathic]

Interestingly, when I was looking at MX configurations at the Tesla Store before ordering, an employee there said the perforated ventilated seats were a top reason to get PUP. He said that people coming from MB were big on ventilated seats. On a side note, my MX ventilated seats work very well for me. I feel the distinct cooling effect. My wife, however, claims she doesn't feel them. Perhaps there are other variables at play about their effectiveness, such as what clothing one wears....

 

[mohanman]

Its probably because everyone is complaining about every single little tiny thing. Ghosting, FWD, .. People complaining of wrinkling leather, useless ventilation.. so they dumped it. They probably got sick of some guys who wanted their leather completely rewrapped because of some minor wrinkling issue or something. Glad I got it before they got rid of it!
mo!

 

[ABC2D]

Can anyone think of a reason why they would do this?

As someone posted in another thread, perhaps new interior design or options are coming?

 

[brianman]

Can anyone think of a reason why they would do this?

Supplier drama (contractual issues, production quality, financial solvency, etc.).

 

[flar]

It sounds good in theory, but the amount of suction we get from our X seats is almost unnoticeable. Bjørn has a youtube video where he used a sheet of paper to demonstrate how little suction there was. I think I'd prefer AC seats, but I could be wrong.

I don't trust the results of that video. The thing with suction is that there aren't a million tiny little fans creating suction at every pinhole, there are one or two fans creating a low pressure environment inside the seat. You can't sample a small number of the holes to determine the direction or strength of the airflow. If you have an area of several square feet through which the low pressure can be equalized and you try to cover maybe 1 square foot, there won't be much pressure on that one square foot because the remaining area can still equalize the pressure just fine. You need to cover 90% of the seat as it would be covered if a person was sitting in it, then you can get a reasonable air flow from the remaining 10% to discover its strength and direction.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I don't trust the results of that video. The thing with suction is that there aren't a million tiny little fans creating suction at every pinhole, there are one or two fans creating a low pressure environment inside the seat. You can't sample a small number of the holes to determine the direction or strength of the airflow. If you have an area of several square feet through which the low pressure can be equalized and you try to cover maybe 1 square foot, there won't be much pressure on that one square foot because the remaining area can still equalize the pressure just fine. You need to cover 90% of the seat as it would be covered if a person was sitting in it, then you can get a reasonable air flow from the remaining 10% to discover its strength and direction.

Indeed.

I think a big problem is that a lot of people simply are not familiar with suction seats. I mean they are available in a very limited section of the car market - luxury cars.

I have noticed a lot of people come to Tesla from stuff that is not its natural car comparison. The ventilated suction seats are immediately familiar coming from an Audi A8 - or similar same price range premium sedan/SUV - and is the type of finesse expected on that type of vehicle.

If you come from something very different, your expectations may be different too.

 

[CarlK]

Model S is totally not an A8 or S Class. Any comparison between them trying to justify anything can be futile.