"Falcon wing" doors on the X open upward, but not outward. The design enables adults to walk into the vehicle, instead of crawling in. (Source: Tesla Motors)
I like the article and I love the Falcon wing doors. If they work well, maybe we will see those on other vehicles. The rear most seats appear to have zero leg room or is that just an illusion? I wonder if that 17" screen will be too distracting for the driver?
I noticed that image 5 in the series appears to be a Model S instead of the X, but I could be mistaken.
You're right about having clever designs, and that worries me. Or not. If they're that confident that their EV will be the equal of a regular car, then the bells and whistles they're touting here will help them.
I'm worried that they're using the nifty features to mask the failings of the actual EV.
NiteOwl, I agree with you that the screen will be distracting. Perhaps a cover for all but the top three inches or so would be good. You could slide it down when you needed to do something involving the rest of the screen. It does seem to have an instrument cluster as well, so this probably is not info needed for driving.
One problem you might run into with the doors is clearance. I don't have enough information to know if this would be a problem, but it could.
A 17 inch touch screen would seem to be a distraction. Perhaps voice commands could be used to provide input, as the driver would not have to divert his attention from the roadway.
I suppose it depends on how you define "equal," TJ McDermott. If we're talking about acceleration, performance, comfort, etc, EVs are already there. In many cases they have surpassed conventional IC-based vehicles. If we're talking about range, refueling time and cost for comparable performance in those areas, however, there's nothing out there to indicate that the EV will catch the gasoline-burning car in the near future.
I agree...a touchscreen is clever and probably very helpful, but definitely seems like it would distract the driver. The falcon-wing doors, though, are very cool...although i do wonder about opening the doors with a car next to you. The idea is that you can, but I know from experience with my VW Transporter van that opens upward in the back, if a car is parked too close you can't open the door. Perhaps there is something about the movement of the Model X's wing doors that prevent such a problem.
Tesla Motors plans to roll out a “compelling, affordable electric car” that will sell for about half the price of its high-profile Model S by the end of 2016, company chairman Elon Musk said last week.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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