Updated - Interior Lighting

[MikeK]

Thank you for the clarification AustinP. Regarding the head rests, its actually not about them being fixed or not. In the volvo system its the seat itself that tilts backwards and up (by the hip) so you fall backwards instead of being pushed forward by the seat when hit from the rear.
Here is a video that shows the mechanics:<snip>

Thanks for sharing that! Pretty slick.

[Brian H]

Your avatar cracks me up daily, doug.

You should probably create a caption contest post for it.

"Note the advanced drive-train!"

[Brian H]

...
So at least in my book, you're presenting a valid discussion topic that will ultimately aid existing and potential buyers.

Curiously ... the parallel topic on the TM Forums has been consigned to outer darkness -- "Access Denied".

[Super Gizmo]

I started the thread regarding deletion of vanity mirrors on TM Forums but now I am not being allowed to post there and boy I have been lambasted by some of their employees acting as regular forum posters for criticizing the decision to delete the features with some personal attacks by a couple of them! I guess they don't want any criticism of their decisions at this stage.

[Tommy]

I started the thread regarding deletion of vanity mirrors on TM Forums but now I am not being allowed to post there and boy I have been lambasted by some of their employees acting as regular forum posters for criticizing the decision to delete the features with some personal attacks by a couple of them! I guess they don't want any criticism of their decisions at this stage.

I follow the TM forum as well; how did you determine that the posters in disagreement with you were Tesla employees and not regular forum posters with a dissenting opinion.

[Designtime]

Wouldn't some of that at least have to do with the expectations set up from Tesla being more communicative and providing more transparency/information on their development progress (which is then amplified by plenty of speculation on these forums)? Perhaps things would be different if Tesla didn't discuss the car at all until (the real) production start, although many of us here would become extremely impatient for more information.

I do agree that the expecations were set up by Tesla, and they have more often than not delivered on that. I just don't see this strategy in itself as a virtue. It is a business decision (that I agree with) to have early stakeholders help them deliver the Model S.

The communications lately have been comprised of a lot of "We don't have an answer for that yet" or airline style "enhancements" like removing lights to improve headroom. I guess I am ready for some good news to bump of my enthusiasm again.

[stopcrazypp]

I started the thread regarding deletion of vanity mirrors on TM Forums but now I am not being allowed to post there and boy I have been lambasted by some of their employees acting as regular forum posters for criticizing the decision to delete the features with some personal attacks by a couple of them! I guess they don't want any criticism of their decisions at this stage.

I find your theory about employees posing as posters highly unlikely. The way Tesla operated from the start shows they welcome and value opinions from their customers (evidence of this is setting up consumer advocates and having journalists take a back seat to customer test drives, something that pissed off a few journalists). Plus the quickest and most effective way to get Tesla to know about your concerns is to contact your customer advocate. I find it more likely your thread had the typical troll or maybe even some of the customers that prompted this decision (they might not care about the vanity mirror but might care more about the head room savings). Last I visited the TM forums (a long time ago), it was a mess (full of spammers and trolls and very little moderation).

[jerry33]

Mostly the spammers are gone now except for the "general" sections where you still see some. However, the TM site has problems with accounts not being able to post and it appears as if they have to do frequent restore from backup which sometimes deletes postings. Most of the time they can do a replay and get the posts back but sometimes not.

[Super Gizmo]

I follow the TM forum as well; how did you determine that the posters in disagreement with you were Tesla employees and not regular forum posters with a dissenting opinion.

Actually there was one guy who personally attacked me for starting the thread on more than one post. He insinuated my intention was to short the TSLA stock. The interesting part is I can no longer post there so I can't even reply to personal attacks. Their web master has somehow blocked me. By the way I have never bought or sold stocks of any kind. We have conservatively invested in GO bonds.

I have nothing against TESLA. I love the company and EV technology. WE have been "Green" for many years having added a Prius to our collection of cars, even owned a Volt for 10 months but sold it because our turn was approaching for the Model S. We also have a 5.2 kw solar system on our roof. We put down our deposit on Model S 3 years ago and now the time has come to configure the car. We are opting for a fully loaded car with all options excluding the rear seats and premium audio. We were just very disappointed that they decided to remove vanity mirror lights (which my wife uses all the time) I guess they do not want any criticism of their decisions at this point because they are trying to meet the deadline. However this will come back to bite them in future when the auto reviewers get more time to examine the interior and start criticizing the lack of features inside the car. So far they have only had a few minutes test driving the car. TM may find they may have to cut back on production instead of ramping up above 20K a year if they do not improve the interior especially after the rush of initial few thousand EV fans take their deliveries and more critical buyers compare the car with other cars in the same price range. Most people are not as EV crazy as us few. As for the claim of Model S being the world's best Premium/Luxury car, that is an awfully ambitious statement with the car lacking basic features found in inexpensive cars.

[kevincwelch]

As for the claim of Model S being the world's best Premium/Luxury car, that is an awfully ambitious statement with the car lacking basic features found in inexpensive cars.

I think this is the issue that is striking most people in the heart.

No one single amenity deficiency is driving people away from this car (at least I don't see it that way). It is the lack of several basic amenities that are fairly standard on many vehicles that are 1/4 the price that is forcing people to reconsider.

I don't think Tesla has to worry about capturing the EV crazed market. They'll get those. They need to get people who wouldn't have considered an EV either because they don't know about them or they feel EVs aren't as good as ICE vehicles. If the average person sat in a Model S and was asked to pay $85,000 for it, they wouldn't. I still believe they wouldn't even after test driving it and hearing lecture upon lecture about how advanced it is and how much better it is for the environment.

At the end of the day, most people want something that comfortably gets them from A to B that will last. IMO, can't be comfortable without the amenities.