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No Power Folding Mirrors for the Model S in the future.

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I emailed my Tesla Ownership Advocate regarding when we might expect to see Power Folding Mirrors implemented in the Model S as that is one of the reasons why I have not finalized my order. Being that the Model S is quite wide and I have single bay garage doors, it would be a hassle to not have the power-folding mirrors capability. I was hoping to finalize my order knowing that this would be a feature that can be added later and can be retro-fitted to existing production cars similar to the pano roof shade, opportunity console and rear reading lights. However, I was disappointed today to hear back from my Advocate that they have no plans to include Power-Folding Mirrors in the Model S now nor in the future. Below is the email that I got.

Hi Henry,

I just spoke to the product planning team and at this time there are no plans to incorporate power folding mirrors to the Model S. It will not be retrofitted into the vehicle, nor will it be a future addition. I apologize for the misconception.

However, if you could provide me with the dimensions of your garage, I would be happy to see if the Model S will fit comfortably with the mirrors unfolded, or perhaps only the driver’s side is necessary. I will hope for the former of the two options as I can understand the inconvenience of an additional step when you park your car.

Thank you for getting back to me.

Sincerely,

Peter

Peter Welch | Ownership Experience Advocate

Does anyone else have any information on this or can confirm this?
 
... they have no plans to include Power-Folding Mirrors in the Model S now nor in the future.
Does anyone else have any information on this or can confirm this?

What are you looking for? Tesla has never implied/hinted/promised power-folding mirrors. They just confirmed that for you. The folks here on TMC have brought up the power folding mirrors as something they'd like to have, but that's it.

I think you got your confirmation ...
 
I had to dig up the specs on my current car ( 2001 OldsmobileAurora ) whichI thought was fairly wide. . . I guess not. (73 inches) Also not as long I thought (200 inches) Having lived with 3 different sized garagesin the last 12 years, I do rely on my mirrors, when backing out of unfamiliarplaces, but after a few repetitions I can park the car within an inch everytime, as evidenced by tire marks on the carpet. No tennis balls on string, orexpensive parking lights. I don’t seethe mirrors sticking out that far from the fenders in pics on the specs page. Although they sound cool, (gee whiz?) I don’tsee necessity. I COULD get in line foramber turn signals.:biggrin:
 
Model S body is 77.3" wide, and mirror to mirror is 86.2"
An Audi A6 is 73.75" wide, and mirror to mirror is 82.1"

And I've hit the mirror once on backing out, and my wife several times on entering. If the S is wider, it's going to be an even tighter squeeze. Folding mirrors come in handy when you inch up to the door and see the mirror is JUST about to hit. Instead of reversing or reaching out and manually folding the mirror in, having it fold automatically is a nice feature.

It's also good for parking in the city.

It's not a deal breaker, but it's just one more of those simple things that the competition has and Tesla doesn't. Best car in the world guys...
 
It's not a deal breaker, but it's just one more of those simple things that the competition has and Tesla doesn't. Best car in the world guys...

+1. Next week I've scheduled changing my garage from two bays to one. Until then, I fold in the driver's mirror to give myself a bit more clearance, but would not want have had to do that in a heavy rain. I wouldn't doubt it shows up as a future option, but I wouldn't wait for it either.
 
Folding mirrors is something my wife has had on several of her cars and she loves it. Not for getting into the garage (we have 8 foot wide doors), but for when she parks in a lot with cars next to hers. Having the mirrors fold in by the press of a button (or when the car is turned off), she has had both type, has, according to her, prevented damage to the mirrors from reckless drivers.
 
I can understand this feature missing on early production cars, but if they are (according to Elon), building the "best car possible", they should consider offering this in the future, when they can source the components, and price it as an option, I think it's more important than many of the other "options" they have.

You can't have the "best possible car" if it's too wide to fit in people garages or tight parking spaces.

This is NOT a narrow vehicle, I just compared it to the specs of my 2012 Plug in Prius, which has an overall width of 68.7", the Model S has an overall width of 86.2", that's a big difference, 17.5". Surprisingly, they have the same cabin volume, ~94 cubic feet.

PiP specs: 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Performance and Specs

Model S specs: Model S Specs and Standard Features | Tesla Motors

EPA comparison page: Compare Side-by-Side
 
While I love my fold-in mirrors and use them about 90% of the time, if I didn't have them I probably wouldn't mind too much. But with this being such a high ticket item, I can understand people's consternation.

However... perhaps Tesla is not too concerned about it because they're closer than they can let on about having... drum roll please

Fold-in Cameras!

Cheers =)
 
This is awful if true. It's one of the widest cars out there: basically a hummer. How is my suv narrower than a sedan and they aren't trying to add auto folding mirrors? I can barely fit into my sf garage even after remodel to widen it.last I checked I was told it might come as update possibly so now I'm disappointed to say the least. Guess I will manually fold in my mirror daily because I like this car, but I'm compromising to drive "the worlds best car".
 
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While I love my fold-in mirrors and use them about 90% of the time, if I didn't have them I probably wouldn't mind too much. But with this being such a high ticket item, I can understand people's consternation.

However... perhaps Tesla is not too concerned about it because they're closer than they can let on about having... drum roll please

Fold-in Cameras!

Cheers =)

Yeah, I think something is up. At the test drive event in Seattle back in July I asked several of the product and engineering people if they might offer power folding mirrors on the Model S at some point in the future. I just got a lot of wide grins, bright eyes, and "well, we can't say - but we might be working on something" nod nod, wink winks back.

I think they're pushing for a revision in the vehicle code to allow for side cameras, as we already know for the Model X, and are holding out on it happening soon enough to offer them on the Model S, too. Any early Model S owners care to remove one of your side mirrors and check for extra wiring already there?? :biggrin:
 
What are you looking for? Tesla has never implied/hinted/promised power-folding mirrors. They just confirmed that for you. The folks here on TMC have brought up the power folding mirrors as something they'd like to have, but that's it.

I think you got your confirmation ...

Not sure the reason for your snarky comment but I'm just sharing the new information which I think a lot of people would be interested in hearing about. And yes, while Tesla has never officially indicated that they would introduce power-folding mirrors, they have to some degree indicated in the past that this would be a feature that they would be including in the future. IIRC, even George B. has said in the past that this was something they are working on. One of TMC posters, I believe it was Spatterso911, posted back in July in the "Unknown" thread (post #120) that he spoke to the engineer that was working on the power-folding mirrors and was told it was going to be part of the car.

Spatterso911: Okay, after my discussion with the engineer today (forever to remain unknown), I have learned a few answers to unknowns. Some of this may likely already be common knowledge.

The engineer handling the motorized folding mirrors is done and they will be a part of the car. This was confirmed today. They may not make it to the first deliveries, but the plan is to get them onto the car.

Obviously, the plan has changed and we know now that power-folding mirrors will not be implemented in the car. For some people, it's no big deal...but for me it is and I'm disappointed because it makes a difference in my daily ownership experience.
 
Folding mirrors is something my wife has had on several of her cars and she loves it. Not for getting into the garage (we have 8 foot wide doors), but for when she parks in a lot with cars next to hers. Having the mirrors fold in by the press of a button (or when the car is turned off), she has had both type, has, according to her, prevented damage to the mirrors from reckless drivers.
I have had automatically folding mirrors on both my last two cars - a Lexus and a Merc B. They fold when i park and remove the key. They are a fantastic feature in car parks and on the street and definitely minimise the chance of damage by passers by squeezing through. This is my main reason for wanting them. The "best car in the world"? No parking sensors, no folding mirrors, no centre console (altho' it may be coming), all little pinpricks which alone may not be deal breakers, but this is a luxury car folks - get real, it needs to have what the competitors have in terms of luxury features. Is the rear view mirror auto dimming for instance? No one has commented on this. If not, then this is yet another missing feature.
 
I'm sufficiently surprised by the response 1young1 received, juxtaposed to what I was told previously, that I am inclined not to wholeheartedly believe either story at this point. Perhaps financial concerns have affected future features, or we were just flat out lied to by people representing themselves as "the engineer on this project or that project". Perhaps the new policy at Tesla is to "under promise/over deliver" when it comes to new or proposed features of the cars that people are inquiring about. Or perhaps it doesn't exist until it exists, as we have seen with rear LED lighting and visor vanity lighting. For that matter, we may never see lighted vanity mirrors or the myriad other things we have been led to believe one way or another are coming down the pipeline. I am disappointed in the increasing number of compromises that are being dealt as time goes on. As AO said "best car in the world, remember?" I hope that meant at least better than a $20K Kia Forte which, by the way, has front and rear stowable cup holders, lighted visor vanity mirrors, adequate rear trunk lighting, map pockets with bottle holders, and power folding side mirrors.