Work on lighting lift gate appliqué begins

[kevincwelch]

FYI I paid a modest fee to David's company about a year ago to download the Mac True-Type version of the Emblem Bold D and all the other Emblem fonts.

I wonder if there is a difference between the PC TTF and the Mac TTF. I purchased the font package as well. I noticed that the "S" is grabbed from the Emblem Bold C (I think) package and the letters in general did not appear to have the same height as the font Tesla uses.

Did you notice this as well? I wonder if there are clear differences in the PC/Mac versions.

For example, these letters in my garage were printed and cut from David's font but seem to be slightly different from the actual Tesla font.

 

[artsci]

I have to be selfish and ask if you think the system would with on my appliqué which is vinyl wrapped in black.

We haven't figured out how this is going to work yet in terms of producing them for individual cars. But we're probably going to do some kind of swap -- we'll ship a new appliqué for a certain cost but provide a credit for return of the stock appliqué, which will then go into the production batch.

If you want to do a wrapped appliqué you'd have to ship it to us, which means you'd be without it for some time. Then there's the matter of how a wrap would react a laser cutter -- would it burn and the like. These are unknowns for the moment and until we have a beta we won't really know. That's probably a month away.

- - - Updated - - -

I wonder if there is a difference between the PC TTF and the Mac TTF. I purchased the font package as well. I noticed that the "S" is grabbed from the Emblem Bold C (I think) package and the letters in general did not appear to have the same height as the font Tesla uses.

Did you notice this as well? I wonder if there are clear differences in the PC/Mac versions.

For example, these letters in my garage were printed and cut from David's font but seem to be slightly different from the actual Tesla font.

Sometimes a font will be tweaked for specific uses which is what Tesla might have done.

 

[artsci]

Work on the 7 appliqués will begin next week. This is quite an involved process. First I've acquired 7 appliqués and the attachment tape from Tesla and one other source. These will then be shipped to LAI International to have the TELSA letters cut out using a CAD file provided by the designer of the font. Next, we'll 3D print out of transparent red plastic inserts for the cut-out letters. These will have a thin backing strip to hold them in place. Then we'll apply a thin (1/16" thin) white LED panel to light the letters from behind. The panels, as with the rear lighted T, will be powered from the brake and running lights with a brightness driver to match the brightness of the running and brake lights. When the running lights are on, the TESLA letters will be lit in red. When the brakes are applied they'll brighten to match the brake lights. The LED light panels are rated for 22,000 hours of operation.

I'll do my car first to make sure it all works as planned. Then we'll have six kits available for purchase. We won't be able to do more than that six at one time as supply of the appliqués is limited. So as this moves forward we'll be producing them in batches of six kits. I don't have final costs yet but my best estimate is around $600. More than half of this is the cost of the appliqué and the laser cutting.

If you think you're interested please PM me ASAP. I'll be starting a list for first-come, first-served delivery of the appliqué kits when they're ready, likely in 2-4 weeks.

 

[artsci]

Here's the waiting list for the lighted lift gate appliqué:

1. SUPRKAR
2. Zax1232.
3. Btrflyl8e
4. FLDarren
5. AMPUP
6. swegman
7. kseitzberg
8. Shumdit
9. NJ Plugin
10. NoMoGas
11. Aaron

 

[swegman]

Rick, you forgot me. We discussed it a few weeks ago.

However, I would be interested in having it dimly lit when the car is on, not when the (daytime) running lights are on, as I don't use those.light

 

[artsci]

Rick, you forgot me. We discussed it a few weeks ago.

However, I would be interested in having it dimly lit when the car is on, not when the (daytime) running lights are on, as I don't use those.light

Done.

 

[kseitzberg]

Rick, please add me to the next batch..

 

[artsci]

Rick, please add me to the next batch..

You're on the list.

 

[NJ Plugin]

Rick, if you have a list for Round 2, can you add me to that please.

2 questions...

Will we be returning our appliques to you to be cut and reused by others, or are we all getting brand new appliques?

Will the appliques be sent to us with the lights installed on them, or separate for us to put on?

I have my (I think one or two other people have mentioned this also) applique wrapped in black (see picture below), and I am wondering how I can do that. If we are all getting new appliques, maybe I can purchase one here, have it wrapped (my wrap guy also used spray on Plasti-Dip in a few areas...which might work here), then send it to you to be cut out.

Thanks for all your hard work on these mods.

 

[artsci]

Rick, if you have a list for Round 2, can you add me to that please.

2 questions...

Will we be returning our appliques to you to be cut and reused by others, or are we all getting brand new appliques?

Will the appliques be sent to us with the lights installed on them, or separate for us to put on?

I have my (I think one or two other people have mentioned this also) applique wrapped in black (see picture below), and I am wondering how I can do that. If we are all getting new appliques, maybe I can purchase one here, have it wrapped (my wrap guy also used spray on Plasti-Dip in a few areas...which might work here), then send it to you to be cut out.

Thanks for all your hard work on these mods.

View attachment 58750

It would be best if your guy wraps the laser cut piece from us.

We probably won't do a swap as we can't account for scratches and other damage on the OEM used appliqué.

The units will be shipped ready to install.

 

[NJ Plugin]

Thank you.

 

[MoeMistry]

Rick, have you figured out a way to easily swap that applique bar? I'm not sure it's a DIY friendly project since the rear hatch cover from the inside has to be dropped so you can access the nuts and clips that are behind.

 

[artsci]

Rick, have you figured out a way to easily swap that applique bar? I'm not sure it's a DIY friendly project since the rear hatch cover from the inside has to be dropped so you can access the nuts and clips that are behind.

It's actually not that difficult -- it's held on with double-side tape and nothing from behind the liftgate. It's removed with the old dental tape sawing method

However, wiring our lighted version will require, just like the read lighted T, removal of the liftgate trim panels.

 

[FLDarren]

It's actually not that difficult -- it's held on with double-side tape and nothing from behind the liftgate. It's removed with the old dental tape sawing method

However, wiring our lighted version will require, just like the read lighted T, removal of the liftgate trim panels.

That's good to know. I might as well leave my trim panels off then.

 

[aaron.s]

Rick,

Haven't been on the forums much recently I'm sorry to say - a lot of work to catch up on since the cross country trip! Glad to see so much progress has been made!

As (I believe) I was the first to suggest this as your next "Tesla lighting" challenge, I am definitely interested in getting one... :wink:

However, I would prefer to have my letters lit in white if that is at all possible (with no brightening while braking) - would that be possible?

Thanks!
Aaron

 

[NJ Plugin]

Rick,

Haven't been on the forums much recently I'm sorry to say - a lot of work to catch up on since the cross country trip! Glad to see so much progress has been made!

As (I believe) I was the first to suggest this as your next "Tesla lighting" challenge, I am definitely interested in getting one... :wink:

However, I would prefer to have my letters lit in white if that is at all possible (with no brightening while braking) - would that be possible?

Thanks!
Aaron

Aaron, if Rick can not do all white for you, I can have made stickers of the letters in 3M white reflective (I might even be able to blue color and reflective at night) material, similar to the chrome letters I did for mine (see post #89). Just let me know.

 

[artsci]

Rick,

Haven't been on the forums much recently I'm sorry to say - a lot of work to catch up on since the cross country trip! Glad to see so much progress has been made!

As (I believe) I was the first to suggest this as your next "Tesla lighting" challenge, I am definitely interested in getting one... :wink:

However, I would prefer to have my letters lit in white if that is at all possible (with no brightening while braking) - would that be possible?

Thanks!
Aaron

Aaron,

Of course this was your idea, I'll get you on the list. I think we can do them in white -- just a matter of changing the 3D printed letters. Please PM or email me.

Rick

 

[rekoh]

is it possible to drill a hole behind the chrome applique and feed the wires to the license plate power supply and have them come on when those come on? (no brightness adjustment for braking obviously, but may be an alternative solution)?

 

[artsci]

is it possible to drill a hole behind the chrome applique and feed the wires to the license plate power supply and have them come on when those come on? (no brightness adjustment for braking obviously, but may be an alternative solution)?

I think this is possible but probably that much easier to do.

 

[artsci]

Just got word from LAI. The seven appliqués with the TESLA letters cut out will be shipped to me the third week of October. I expect it will be another month to complete the rest of the work (3D printing of the letter inserts and LED panel lighting) before the first functioning unit will be ready.