You might be right. There doesn't appear to be enough room aft of the 3rd row to fold the seats that direction. But just folding the 3rd seat back forward on to the lower portion will leave an incredibly awkward loading floor (make that volume since there won't be much "floor").
Yeah, there won't be much room, but as least as much as your average minivan or SUV, with the 3rd row seats down and the 2nd row in-use.
The more I think about it, there's no way the 3rd row can fold forward. That mechanism would be a complete b!tch and would need gooseneck hinges that want to be exactly were the rear motor is located.
Taking a closer look at the seat supports, they do seem to have some mechanism for folding the seat forward: This may just be for easier rear access, but it does look like the 2nd row seat base is about the same depth as the 3rd row is high. Something like this: Front _/¬= Rear
if the whole thing lowers, then it can move further forward. see how the pedestal is angled? so, the further it moves down, the further it can move forward. it may not be to the point of touching the front seat, but darn close. - - - Updated - - - How? there's no room for the seat cushions to rotate. and the pedestal isn't a circular cylinder. it's an oval cylinder.
The middle seat slips under the front center console. the S already has this space. (its where I put temp cupholders today). If its similar sized (or even slight larger) then the middle seat can definitely slip under there too.
The tilting will make car seats easier, particularly the infant seats so as to make sure the recline angle of the seat is proper. SO instead having to adjust the carseat or base (to get the level indicator right), you could tilt the whole seat to line it up.
I'm sure Tesla had the rear seat co figuration figured out, just as I'm sure they can get doors and a door handle to line up. Toyota figured out how to stow 2 rows of rear seats in my 1994 landcruiser after all. As for review mirror wiring, why could they not run it inside the glass like a rear window defroster?
Another theory about the third row. What if the mechanism in the middle of the 3rd row allows the bottom of the seat to fold up vertically and then stow the whole seat into the back part of the trunk? You take off the headrests and then you have a flat spot that allows for taller items to be carried? When I was at the Model X reveal in 2012, the height of that back space was impressive. If you look at the video of the reveal on Tesla's website, you can see how much luggage they packed into the back trunk area. Remember there is no exhaust or fuel tanks back there, so I could potentially see the 3rd row tucking away neatly into the back trunk area for increased carrying capacity.
I guess we'll find out soon enough. Notice how flat the back of the second row seats are. I think they'll rest on the ground. I just can't see how the second row can submarine below and spoon up against the first row. Being no hinge on the second row seats so the backs can recline, I think that those are the only two options; rotating and laying flat or lowering and spooning.
As a middle child myself, let's just say that the middle child will be lucky if he doesn't have to hold the other kids' cups.
They could rotate counterclockwise such that the leather on the backrest is facing up. Then the third row could fold and extend forward, covering the secnod row, leather to leather, exposing the back and bottom of the third row as the cabin surface.
I mentioned this earlier, but this thread is long and moving fast. The 2nd row looks like it has adjustable (retractable) thigh support. The only reason that would be worthwhile is if those lower seats really needed to be short and low in front (e.g. submersible).
Nope--the hinge mechanism would be worse than the doors and would need to be where the motor is located. Plus the lower portion of the 2nd row would severely limit the incline of the front row. 3rd row folds aft like a minivan 2nd row submarines like nothing before