New Seats and Retro Fit Seats - Does anyone know when?

I'd guess it's going to be improvements to rear passenger comfort. There's been previous discussions about needed changes to make the Model S more suitable for the Asian market where a lot more owners are rear passengers, rather than drivers themselves.

But that's just a guess...

He agreed with a questioner who said the seats aren't as good as they could be. He said something like the issue is that the weight sensor in the seat keeps it stiffer and doesn't let you settle in deeper and more comfortably. I believe he hinted that they might be able to fix it with a software update.

And.. then I read this:

Elon Musk Talks Tesla Model X Details, Model S Upgrades, At Europe Q+A Sessions

• The production Model S will soon come off the line with improved front seats. "The seats should be more comfortable," said Musk. A modified spring force in the cushion will allow the driver to sink lower into the seat. The new seat is designed so it can be retrofitted to older cars. Musk also said that a second, more comprehensive seat upgrade is about a year away.

jdh said:

I'd guess it's going to be improvements to rear passenger comfort.

Click to expand...

My recollection is that Elon was talking about the driver's seat.

jdh said:

A modified spring force in the cushion will allow the driver to sink lower into the seat.[/LIST]

Click to expand...

I'd also like to see the seats have better side support for those times when I'm cornering hard. Maybe a sport seat option.

Several Swedish car magazines have complained about the poor design of the Tesla Model S headrests. They offer no whiplash protection at all. (You know, Volvo-country...)

However, as the European crash test EuroNCAP do check for whiplash protection we certainly hope Tesla Motors will improve their headrest before the cars get tested over here.

A buddy of mine who owns a Tesla told me that he was told his Retro-Fit Seats with better padding and springs will be available in 4 months but if you order today you will automatically get them? Can anyone verify this as I am very very close to placing my order. Thanks

Surely your salesperson (Tesla sales) can answer that. I read about it in Green Car Reports - it was a quote from Elon Musk, but there was no date given. It did say soon though. I emailed my Tesla service rep and she said she knew nothing yet. I definitely want retro-fitted more comfortable seats as soon as they're available. My advice is wait until you know for sure before ordering. As an owner I will tell you the existing seats are a little hard.

Here's the quote from http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090225_elon-musk-talks-tesla-model-x-details-model-s-upgrades-at-europe-qa-sessions:

The production Model S will soon come off the line with improved front seats. "The seats should be more comfortable," said Musk. A modified spring force in the cushion will allow the driver to sink lower into the seat. The new seat is designed so it can be retrofitted to older cars. Musk also said that a second, more comprehensive seat upgrade is about a year away.

Click to expand...

The more comprehensive upgrade sounds interesting as well.

T B said:

Several Swedish car magazines have complained about the poor design of the Tesla Model S headrests. They offer no whiplash protection at all. (You know, Volvo-country...)

However, as the European crash test EuroNCAP do check for whiplash protection we certainly hope Tesla Motors will improve their headrest before the cars get tested over here.

Click to expand...

They also let your head roll right off the side. It's almost impossible to put your head back and sleep in the passenger seat.

Jason S said:

Here's the quote from http://www.greencarreports.com/news...tails-model-s-upgrades-at-europe-qa-sessions:
The more comprehensive upgrade sounds interesting as well.

Click to expand...

Yes, but are they going to be retro-fitable as well, or just the "improved" seats due out soon?

Rezabek said:

A buddy of mine who owns a Tesla told me that he was told his Retro-Fit Seats with better padding and springs will be available in 4 months but if you order today you will automatically get them? Can anyone verify this as I am very very close to placing my order. Thanks

Click to expand...

The news reports are quite brief on this. Here is what he actually said (transcript):

A(EM): Improved seat comfort? (Laugh.) I agree. The seats should be more comfortable. There is an upgraded seat that we're working on. Pretty sure it can be offered as a retrofit. I think one element is going into production this week or next week. I'm 90% sure they can be offered as a future upgrade. Element... adjusts the springs on the seat. One thing that's not quite right about the front seats is that the spring force is too high under the center of the butt. Raises you too much out of the seat. By modifying the spring force you sit better in the seat. Fairly easy thing to modify for existing seats. Looking to see if we can offer this for a minor cost. Longer term there's a bigger seat upgrade but that's probably more like a year. Seats are harder to modify than you might think because of the safety aspect. Sensor pad for the airbag for how heavy, and where located in the seat to adjust decision on how to deploy the airbag.

Hope that the new seats will be also ventilated/cooled as it happens for other luxury automakers.

Raffy.Roma said:

Hope that the new seats will be also ventilated/cooled as it happens for other luxury automakers.

Click to expand...

+1 Australia needs seat cooling.

I think improved lateral support is pretty high on the list too.

"Soft"ware update?
I like that.

Raising this thread back up, I got a loaner today VIN 38XXX (I don't have the exact vin off-hand sorry), and when I sat down, I was like... Oh my! These are SOFT and comfy!

My car is 33853 so just about 5,000 cars later (and 2-3 months) and they must have changed something in the middle there. So, I am trying to find out from Rockville SC if this means that the new seats are out, and if and when a retrofit will be available. Especially since they have my car in the shop right now, if they can upgrade my seats I will be super happy!

Hopefully they offer a retrofit.