Midgate a No-Go (Assuming Tonneau Patent)?

[scottf200]

2:20 in this video shows how big this 3rd party one is as well.

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[Sirfun]

Yes exactly. The window has no where it can fit. Without wanting to brag, but all this was self evident when I drew up my own CAD model in 2019, in the week after release. Spending a week recreating the CT details on CAD really gives one a more detailed appreciation for the design and integration of the various components that a casual observers would miss entirely. The same applies to the cabin frunk and bed dimensions, being able to twist and trunk a model in 3D really changes how you see the CT.

Two things I'm still struggling with deciphering is just how much the front windscreen is curved, and from where, and if the CT sidewalls are curved front to rear in a long gradual bow, or if they are in fact completely straight. I believe a curve would be better for aero.

Here's a couple of photos I took of the prototype CT at The Petersen Musuem. I added straight lines to make it easier to see the subtle curves.

 

[FutureBoy]

roll down window

I love how we are all using the term roll-down window to denote a window that lowers into the body of the vehicle. It has been decades since anyone was rolling anything to get the window to open. If anything, it should be a slide down window (that is what the "window" portion, and primary visible part, is doing).

I wonder how many of the young whipper-snappers even know why it was called a roll-down window.

 

[cvalue13]

It has been decades since anyone was rolling anything to get the window to open.

the tonneau on the other hand…

And wait till they hear about “turning on” the CT headlights

 

[cvalue13]

I added straight lines to make it easier to see the subtle curves.

photos are tough because the pens can curve even straight lines

the reflections of the tube lights on the glass, on the other hand, do indicate convex bend at the center of windshield glass

 

[Sirfun]

photos are tough because the pens can curve even straight lines

the reflections of the tube lights on the glass, on the other hand, do indicate convex bend at the center of windshield glass

Exactly!

Here's an even better photo showing those reflections being curved by the windshield.

 

[JBee]

Here's a couple of photos I took of the prototype CT at The Petersen Musuem. I added straight lines to make it easier to see the subtle curves.

Thanks for the photos.

I really would need one of those panable 3D walkarounds though....In person would be even better!

One day I'll make a 3D scan.

BTW how many photos did you make of the CT at the Petersen? Maybe I can make a orthomosiac from them if there is enough?

 

[Sirfun]

Thanks for the photos.

I really would need one of those panable 3D walkarounds though....In person would be even better!

One day I'll make a 3D scan.

BTW how many photos did you make of the CT at the Petersen? Maybe I can make a orthomosiac from them if there is enough?

Definitely not enough for anything like that. One thing that was very apparent to me was that this CT is a concept car. The metal skin is very thin, not even close to 3mm and that stainless steel bed is the stuff dreams are made of. There's no way Tesla was going to build something like that and sell it for $39,900.

A few months after the reveal, Jay Leno and Elon did a drive and filmed a segment of Leno's Garage with it. In that video Elon said "I hate when car companies have a show car, and then the production car is nothing like it, we won't do that".

So this was Tesla's show car to create interest, and what they are going to produce will be similar, but nothing is set in stone. Therefore, when I was at the museum. I enjoyed it for what it is. It's the start of the revolution, prototype #1. They had several vehicles there that were of the same pedigree. The 2017 Concept Semi was parked in the parking garage. And the original 2009 Model S concept car was there too. Lots of great information about Tesla as a company. And how the media portray them as never going to make it.

 

[Crissa]

The vault patent does not say anything one way or another for a midgate.

It's been said many times before, and doesn't need to be repeated.

-Crissa

 

[JBee]

The vault patent does not say anything one way or another for a midgate.

It's been said many times before, and doesn't need to be repeated.

-Crissa

So because it says nothing about a midgate it proves the CT doesn't have one? Sweet. Thanks for your contribution (and not reading the OP because it has more than 100 words).

 

[JBee]

I’m not saying this is likely, but in theory something like the following could possibly make for a window that rolls down - but I’d say it requires the rear window to be at an angle leaning towards the bed

edit to add, the investor prototype window does appear to reflect the bed/tailgate, suggesting that rear glass could in fact be at an angle

On that angle it might be possible, but there really isn't that much room behind the rear backrest, and the assembly would move the seat further forwards. Although I wouldn't mind having an opening to the vault, what would it be good for, being so low you can't get through it? I fear people might use it as a passthru to put longer items into the cab, and those longer items would then be dangling around at head height. Rather have a center armrest passthru, that either terminates behind the center console, or even goes through it Bollinger style. At least it would be more contained.

We once talked about an alternative vault cover, using a peice of glass stored in the rear cab roof. It is missing about 10" to work dimensionally, but would be possible. Good thing with a peice of glass is that it would be much cheaper than the vault, and always be out of the way of the bed, loads and possible midgate. Could also easily embed solar in the glass.

 

[cvalue13]

On that angle it might be possible, but there really isn't that much room behind the rear backrest, and the assembly would move the seat further forwards.

for what little it’s worth, I do think it’s possible the glass is angled just so (based on that reflection photo), and no doubt it would move the back seats that much closer to the front seats. Maybe 1”? 2”?

as for the utility of the back glass going down, I personally would enjoy it for airflow with all the windows down and the tonneau open. I probably wouldn’t trade that for 1-2” of back seat room, though.

Others appear intent on sleeping in the vault with heat/aircon. Vault seems right to me, but I’m a bit large and non-clinically claustrophobic.

More than that, given the CT’s materials, I just imagine that vault getting so hot/cold, even if insulated, that a mere rear window to cab doesn’t circulate air well enough to have the desired effect. Perhaps if just above and inside the rear window there is a vault-facing air duct?

In any event, the rear window being mobile seems a challenge given the bulkhead shape/tonneau function - but not insurmountable. Real question is if the cost (money or function) of it is worth the benefits.

 

[JBee]

for what little it’s worth, I do think it’s possible the glass is angled just so (based on that reflection photo), and no doubt it would move the back seats that much closer to the front seats. Maybe 1”? 2”?

as for the utility of the back glass going down, I personally would enjoy it for airflow with all the windows down and the tonneau open. I probably wouldn’t trade that for 1-2” of back seat room, though.

Others appear intent on sleeping in the vault with heat/aircon. Vault seems right to me, but I’m a bit large and non-clinically claustrophobic.

More than that, given the CT’s materials, I just imagine that vault getting so hot/cold, even if insulated, that a mere rear window to cab doesn’t circulate air well enough to have the desired effect. Perhaps if just above and inside the rear window there is a vault-facing air duct?

In any event, the rear window being mobile seems a challenge given the bulkhead shape/tonneau function - but not insurmountable. Real question is if the cost (money or function) of it is worth the benefits.

I'm pretty sure that the vault HVAC will be via an air duct from the cab. There's a bunch of NVH isolation happening in the cab that the bed doesn't have. It's also forced air and can be temperature regulated to really keep the whole bed area heated or cooled. An open window will do little to nothing for climatising the rear bed, without forced air coming from somewhere for air convection. There's also the matter of dust, particles and smell recirculating back into the cab through the window from the bed. All of theses things can be avoided with a simple flapped ventilation slit above the window. It's also more efficient in camp mode, where the bed can be climatised without the cab, which is not possible through a open window. Ideally, the bed, and possibly also the frunk, could be cooled and heated independently. Would make the ideal food delivery van then, cold drinks up front, pizzas in back, and all running off the same heat pump.

 

[ED_SFO]

Yeah I think no mid gate or a window that rolls down. If the window is even slightly open then the tonneau shouldnt open or close because of the guillotine effect it would cause. That just a liability i don't think they need to deal with, and less work and cheaper just to have a fixed rear window. Having a rear vent to the bed is cheaper and satisfies the need for the roll down window in the first place. Also tbh I've camped without a heater in my tent my whole life lol...heating the bed is pretty cool but definitely not needed.

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

for what little it’s worth, I do think it’s possible the glass is angled just so (based on that reflection photo), and no doubt it would move the back seats that much closer to the front seats. Maybe 1”? 2”?

as for the utility of the back glass going down, I personally would enjoy it for airflow with all the windows down and the tonneau open. I probably wouldn’t trade that for 1-2” of back seat room, though.

Others appear intent on sleeping in the vault with heat/aircon. Vault seems right to me, but I’m a bit large and non-clinically claustrophobic.

More than that, given the CT’s materials, I just imagine that vault getting so hot/cold, even if insulated, that a mere rear window to cab doesn’t circulate air well enough to have the desired effect. Perhaps if just above and inside the rear window there is a vault-facing air duct?

In any event, the rear window being mobile seems a challenge given the bulkhead shape/tonneau function - but not insurmountable. Real question is if the cost (money or function) of it is worth the benefits.

Actually, the window is angled, and the front end of the bed has changed significantly from the reveal proto, and patent diagram. If you look at the original it is angled back toward the rear at the bottom, then bends straight up to the the top of the rear of the cabin. There is around a foot of 90 degree steal, then window. The cover track follows this path.

The new Beta does not have the switch to a 90 degree angle. It has a steep angle to right below the window, where there is a smaller change in angle. This angle is again followed by the bed cover track, but unlike in the original it does not go to the top of the window at 90 degrees, but rather heads on an angle to meet the new overhang that extends above the bed from the glass roof. We have wondered about this new extension in the past, and it may indeed have been implemented to allow the rear window to be installed on an angle, which would also allow it to retract.

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