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Tesla Makes Improvements To Model S
An anonymous reader writes "In a lull between product launches Tesla intends to keep making improvements to the Model S according to Elon Musk. Tesla will automatically push software to the Model S fleet that will help the car learn the driver's habits and the navigation system will offer directions to avoid traffic jams. 'This year, Tesla is offering only the single model, the Model S that is EPA rated at up to 265 miles on a single charge, the most of any electric car. The company's next model won't come until next year, when the delayed Model X crossover goes on sale. Musk says the holdup has centered on making sure its signature design element, gullwing doors to make it easier to get in the rear, works properly and is leak-proof. "Getting the door right is extremely difficult," he says.'"
The gullwing doors are going to be his white whale.
If they wanted to do something cool with the doors, they should have gone with electric sliding doors for all four doors. Front doors slide forward, back doors slide backwards. No worries about clearance above the car, or even next to the car, they seal correctly, they don't stop you from putting a roof-rack on it and because mini-vans have been using electric sliding doors for decades all the bugs have been engineered out years ago.
And that right there is the problem. Nobody drives a minivan to look cool. People drive Teslas to look cool. A Tesla that looks like a minivan would not look cool.
No worries about clearance above the car
Because this is a concern for a sports car, when most parking places are designed for vans.
or even next to the car
Gull-wing doors require less side clearance than standard doors.
they seal correctly
So do gull-wing doors, if closed with a proper path. This is the hard part, because the door system can't interfere with other systems, like the roof's roll supports. It's not an intractable problem, but it makes the overall engineering more difficult.
they don't stop you from putting a roof-rack on it
Also a big problem for sports cars, I'm sure.
mini-vans have been using electric sliding doors for decades
...And gull-wing doors have been around for half a century.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Regular doors don't do that because they open outwards away from the car's interior, and none of the roof moves away. It could definitely happen on the Toyota Sera.
Where on earth do you live? I'm in the lower Northeast, and rain and especially snow and dust indeed does get in the car when you open the doors - except the rear hatch - ironically the door most resembling the gullwing door. I mean, if only gullwing doors had this issue, we wouldn't need any other type of doors at all. Only the gullwings would allow anything outside the car, inside the car.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I was going to try it out, but they wanted me to grant "irrevocable, perpetual, sublicensable" permission to any location data gather by the app, which is all associated with a unique identifier.
Is it me or is this a really stupid idea? Just making the doors gull wing prevents you from putting: luggage on top, ski racks, bike racks on roof, etc. You know, the kind of things people would do with an SUV or crossover...
Welcome my son,
Welcome to the machine.
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been.
Or the car gets pushed an update file while you're doing 50mph, stores it for later, and installs it at some point when it's stopped and charging.
(Other options also include a polling mechanism where the car phones home for updated periodically when stopped, or a combination of the two where they push an "update is availible" flag, which signals the car to phone home and download/install it once it's stopped/charging).
Have a look at how a properly designed gullwing door is designed.
When the door is open there is a huge drain to direct water etc. from the roof to the ground (around the actual doorway).
Also when the door is open, the far end of the door is hovering outside the range where water etc. could drip inside the car.
In addition (unlike traditional car doors) when the door is open, it's hovering above the gap, acting as a roof, so that the actual rain doesn't get inside the car either.