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Gen3 "BlueStar" retractable hardtop?

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Personally I think its unlikely that there will be a retractable hardtop for the normal Bluestar. These systems are expensive in terms of cost in develop and production, and in terms of weight, and Tesla will certainly be wanting to keep both cost and weight low to meet the 30,000 price range while giving as much driving range as possible. The Bluestar is also supposed to be Tesla's "Car of the People" and convertible hard tops usually take up a lot of trunk space (or all of it), and also pretty much require the vehicle to be a 2 seater, not a family car.

I could definitely see this for a future roadster based on the Bluestar platform though.
 
Personally I think its unlikely that there will be a retractable hardtop for the normal Bluestar. These systems are expensive in terms of cost in develop and production, and in terms of weight, and Tesla will certainly be wanting to keep both cost and weight low to meet the 30,000 price range while giving as much driving range as possible. The Bluestar is also supposed to be Tesla's "Car of the People" and convertible hard tops usually take up a lot of trunk space (or all of it), and also pretty much require the vehicle to be a 2 seater, not a family car.

I could definitely see this for a future roadster based on the Bluestar platform though.

I think this is COMPLETELY wrong. Many cars have all this on the same platform. Look at the BMW 3 series for example. 4 seater sedan, 2+2 coupe, 2+2 convertible and a small station wagon to boot !! I think all can be easily accomplished. The whole series does not have to start at $30,000 just the base model.
 
ICE car platforms that run both as sedan and convertible have increased strength sills. The additional weight does little harm to the sedan and is offset by savings on development costs. MB 190 chassis was said to have strengthened sills right from the start but Daimler never made a convertible off that.

250px-Mercedes-Benz_190_front_20081213.jpg

Edit: The BMW3 (E30) had a cabriolet version with added strengthening, increasing vehicle weight by 125kg. Source: BMW E30 - Wikipedia
220px-BMW_E30_Cabrio_rear_20071109.jpg
 
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i heard of people with hard-top convertibles that there is lot of risk for waterleaks from the roof after a while!
textile roofs are lighter and lot less problems!
and are insulated as good as hard-tops now
 
My Mercedes SLK is a hardtop convertible (very similar to the car in the first video). I love it! In the Northwest, we obviously need to keep the top up most of the time. The hardtop is quieter and much more durable. No leaking, but then, Mercedes has had quite a while to perfect it.

Wait just a minute, isn't Mercedes a tight partner with Tesla? It would be freaking awesome if Roadster 3.0 had a convertible hardtop option!
 
I think this is COMPLETELY wrong. Many cars have all this on the same platform. Look at the BMW 3 series for example. 4 seater sedan, 2+2 coupe, 2+2 convertible and a small station wagon to boot !! I think all can be easily accomplished. The whole series does not have to start at $30,000 just the base model.

I don't think what we're saying is mutually exclusive . I'm saying the Bluestar vehicle probably won't have a retractable hardtop, but the Bluestar platform very well may. It seems very unlikely to me that they'd try to release a sedan, a coupe, a convertible, ect at the same time, and that the first model year at a minimum will just be a sedan or hatchback. Each body variant would require unique engineering, stamping, assembly, interior, crash testing, government certification, ect, and would represent very large time and resource investments when they're trying to bring out a refined affordable family car.

I agree that its completely possible that a car based on the Bluestar platform would have a retractable hardtop though. Maybe as a variant on the same vehicle like the 3 series, or maybe as a separate vehicle based on the Bluestar skateboard like the Model S and Model X.
 
I think that the design of the convertible hardtop would be something completely up the Tesla Engineers alley. The complicated mechanics of such a design would be a challenge for anyone. I believe the SSR pickup has a roof that stores behind the front seats (it is a two-seater) and it doesn't take up much additional space. This could be a cool design for the next roadster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCeBc5jdWAg