Side sail area?

[Ogre]

My guess is that the sail storage is either no longer in the plans, or it is accessible from inside the bed. It would be more secure and probably a simpler design, to have access from inside the bed.

That would be a bummer. Pretty much destroy 90% of the appeal of the feature.

I am going to stick with optimism and @Sirfun’s interpretation of the images.

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[nomadmusk]

The frame by frame inspection of this thread makes me proud to be here. You guys are madlads to have caught that.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I'm kind of the opposite prospective on this. The side sail storage is one of the features that has been least talked about by Tesla and never shown save for that one image of the sail open.

I'm betting whether or not the feature makes the cut will come down to one thing: Whether from a manufacturing perspective it's quicker to have the hind panel be one solid piece with a score and fold where the sale starts; or if it quicker or creates less panel defects to install as separate panels.

If having the sail storage slows production down at all, even to just the tune of a few fewer trucks manufactured per day; I would bet on it not making the cut.

Tesla knows it has over a million pre-orders that now have an increasing number of viable options to defect to. I have to imagine they are going to want to ramp up production fast. And given the history Tesla has had with panel gaps and alignment issues; there may also be the fear of squeaky sail storage hinges or the sail door binding leading to a glut of service center calls when service centers are already booked past capacity(which I believe they are working on in the form of new service centers; but that obviously doesn't happen overnight).

I hate being pessimistic on this, because it would be a cool feature to have; but I just wonder if the risk is too big compared to the potential reward for Tesla on this feature.

Tesla does things for functional reasons, not for speed, so if the sail doors go away it will be because it doesn't make sense from a structural point of view, or perhaps from a manufacturing point of view. Then they would have these two large empty spaces. There are other things they could do with those spaces.on the Lightning and the Silverado they added extra sockets, or they might add features in the bed that could use the spaces. Time will tell.

 

[Ogre]

I'm kind of the opposite prospective on this. The side sail storage is one of the features that has been least talked about by Tesla and never shown save for that one image of the sail open.

Same can be said of the frunk, under-vault storage, and under seat storage. They were all swept under the rug of 100 cubic feat of secured storage but mentioned. I suspect none of them existed in a reasonable, functional way on the prototype. They collectively got 10 seconds of stage time and 1 low res, rendered photo each.

They haven’t really talked about any of it. We don’t know if they have power in the frunk, what the frunk looks like open, whether a spare can fit in the under vault storage, or how any of them even open.

I'm betting whether or not the feature makes the cut will come down to one thing: Whether from a manufacturing perspective it's quicker to have the hind panel be one solid piece with a score and fold where the sale starts; or if it quicker or creates less panel defects to install as separate panels.

If having the sail storage slows production down at all, even to just the tune of a few fewer trucks manufactured per day; I would bet on it not making the cut.

I’m sure this is the case. I don’t think it’s very likely though.

Tesla knows it has over a million pre-orders that now have an increasing number of viable options to defect to. I have to imagine they are going to want to ramp up production fast. And given the history Tesla has had with panel gaps and alignment issues; there may also be the fear of squeaky sail storage hinges or the sail door binding leading to a glut of service center calls when service centers are already booked past capacity(which I believe they are working on in the form of new service centers; but that obviously doesn't happen overnight).

I hate being pessimistic on this, because it would be a cool feature to have; but I just wonder if the risk is too big compared to the potential reward for Tesla on this feature.

I strongly suspect this will be a very popular sleeper feature for people who want work trucks or trucks for doing recreation type things. The sails pillars turn a liability into a very nice feature which might very well help sell additional trucks. This kind of storage is a $5,000 upgrade for a lot of work trucks.

Obviously… if the finished version turns out to be nearly worthless… or as you suggest requires a bunch of time on assembly, it will get dropped. I would think if they were going to drop it they would at least reclaim that space inside the bed, but it seems like it is still outward facing from some of the stills.

 

[HaulingAss]

Tesla likes minimalism, but a useful truck needs plenty of storage holes... Fingers crossed it isn't overly minimalist. I was initially very excited about the side sail storage.

A useful truck needs plenty of storage holes? My 2010 F-150 has zero storage holes accessible from outside and it's been the best selling truck in America for decades. It doesn't even have a frunk!

Are you saying my truck has not been useful? And that most Americans own trucks that are not useful? IMO, compartments like that would just encourage truck owners to fill them up with a bunch of dead weight they don't need.

 

[Sirfun]

A useful truck needs plenty of storage holes? My 2010 F-150 has zero storage holes accessible from outside and it's been the best selling truck in America for decades. It doesn't even have a frunk!

Are you saying my truck has not been useful? And that most Americans own trucks that are not useful? IMO, compartments like that would just encourage truck owners to fill them up with a bunch of dead weight they don't need.

Storage spaces in pickups, is it going to end up like cup holders in minivans?

 

[Ogre]

A useful truck needs plenty of storage holes? My 2010 F-150 has zero storage holes accessible from outside and it's been the best selling truck in America for decades. It doesn't even have a frunk!

Are you saying my truck has not been useful? And that most Americans own trucks that are not useful? IMO, compartments like that would just encourage truck owners to fill them up with a bunch of dead weight they don't need.

Tool boxes and secure storage are some of the biggest after market accessories in the truck market. Maybe more than lumber racks.

Doesn’t mean your truck is not useful.

The fact that you don’t want it doesn’t mean it’s not desirable to a lot of people either.

 

[RVAC]

My guess is that the sail storage is either no longer in the plans, or it is accessible from inside the bed. It would be more secure and probably a simpler design, to have access from inside the bed.

Access from inside the bed doesn't make much sense IMHO. Sail storage should be accessible from the outside as that alleviates the issue of not having access to the bed from the sides due to the sail pillars.

Same can be said of the frunk, under-vault storage, and under seat storage. They were all swept under the rug of 100 cubic feat of secured storage but mentioned. I suspect none of them existed in a reasonable, functional way on the prototype. They collectively got 10 seconds of stage time and 1 low res, rendered photo each.

They haven’t really talked about any of it. We don’t know if they have power in the frunk, what the frunk looks like open, whether a spare can fit in the under vault storage, or how any of them even open.

The unfortunate side effect of having Musk doing presentations, he's terrible at them.

A useful truck needs plenty of storage holes? My 2010 F-150 has zero storage holes accessible from outside and it's been the best selling truck in America for decades. It doesn't even have a frunk!

Are you saying my truck has not been useful? And that most Americans own trucks that are not useful? IMO, compartments like that would just encourage truck owners to fill them up with a bunch of dead weight they don't need.

Not being able to access the bed from the sides is a common complaint I hear, storage in the sail pillars would definitely be a good way of mitigating that concern.

 

[Albern]

I too am hopeful that the sail-pillar storage will still be there at production. The simplest explanation as to why it might not be present in the recent prototype would be that this version is not feature-complete.

Also, the reason why this feature along with the frunk were seemingly swept under the rug was because Elon was thrown off during the presentation following the broken glass incident. These features were subsequent of that moment in the presentation deck.

 

[Ogre]

The unfortunate side effect of having Musk doing presentations, he's terrible at them.

I know probably not many people feel this way, but I’d rather have a person who is honest and knows their shit inside and out presenting something rather than someone who is going to give me a bunch of shamwow.

I love Apple and they crush product intros… but so much shamwow. Kind of prefer Tesla.

Musk does let the click hungry media dig into holes in the demo though.

Not being able to access the bed from the sides is a common complaint I hear, storage in the sail pillars would definitely be a good way of mitigating that concern.

Totally agree.

 

[CostcoSamples]

A useful truck needs plenty of storage holes? My 2010 F-150 has zero storage holes accessible from outside and it's been the best selling truck in America for decades. It doesn't even have a frunk!

Are you saying my truck has not been useful? And that most Americans own trucks that are not useful? IMO, compartments like that would just encourage truck owners to fill them up with a bunch of dead weight they don't need.

Tie down straps, tow rope, chains, misc tools for work, etc., you like to have those rolling around your cab all the time? transporting stuff is literally the reason trucks exist. having options for storage is not necessary?

 

[Sirfun]

Access from inside the bed doesn't make much sense IMHO. Sail storage should be accessible from the outside as that alleviates the issue of not having access to the bed from the sides due to the sail pillars.

Exactly, It makes NO sense to have a storage area in the sail plane and then have the access from inside the bed.
I am a little hesitant to mention this. But here it goes.

People have been mentioning that with the new photos and videos, it's hard to see a gap at the bottom of the sail door on the edge where they had it on the Alpha CT. What if, and this is a HUGE what if.
Tesla decided to make that whole quarter panel a door. That way, you wouldn't have to go into the bed to access the Air compressor on the left side, and the electrical panel on the right side. This would mean on a job site you could leave the Vault cover closed to hook up an air line or plug in all the electrical cords.

This is HIGHLY theoretical, but we are all speculating. There, I said it!

Now I'm going golfing, so talk amongst yourselves!

Aloha

 

[Ogre]

Exactly, It makes NO sense to have a storage area in the sail plane and then have the access from inside the bed.
I am a little hesitant to mention this. But here it goes.

People have been mentioning that with the new photos and videos, it's hard to see a gap at the bottom of the sail door on the edge where they had it on the Alpha CT. What if, and this is a HUGE what if.
Tesla decided to make that whole quarter panel a door. That way, you wouldn't have to go into the bed to access the Air compressor on the left side, and the electrical panel on the right side. This would mean on a job site you could leave the Vault cover closed to hook up an air line or plug in all the electrical cords.

This is HIGHLY theoretical, but we are all speculating. There, I said it!

Now I'm going golfing, so talk amongst yourselves!

Aloha

Giant doors need big latches and big hinges. Then you’d need shelves inside to keep the stuff from falling off. It also defeats the whole 3mm exoskeleton thing entirely.

But it could be rad.

Also… I am cringing at all of the things people are going to do to this truck with angle grinders to completely destroy it’s structural integrity. Not what you suggested… but your comment triggered the thought.

 

[Firetruck41]

Exactly, It makes NO sense to have a storage area in the sail plane and then have the access from inside the bed.
I am a little hesitant to mention this. But here it goes.

People have been mentioning that with the new photos and videos, it's hard to see a gap at the bottom of the sail door on the edge where they had it on the Alpha CT. What if, and this is a HUGE what if.
Tesla decided to make that whole quarter panel a door. That way, you wouldn't have to go into the bed to access the Air compressor on the left side, and the electrical panel on the right side. This would mean on a job site you could leave the Vault cover closed to hook up an air line or plug in all the electrical cords.

This is HIGHLY theoretical, but we are all speculating. There, I said it!

Now I'm going golfing, so talk amongst yourselves!

Aloha

Hate to have to open that, in a parking space flanked by parked cars! ??

 

[CyberGus]

The reason we've not seen the frunk as yet is because most of that space is filled with equipment, like thermal management, air compressor tank, etc. I'm sure the prototype was using off-the-shelf components and therefore had little leftover space. Watch Sandy Munro's teardowns, and you'll see that making space for the frunk requires tight integration of the components.

For this reason, I am skeptical that we will be getting a Lightning-style frunk. Ford kept the expansive hood and engine compartment of the original F150, so they had plenty of room to work with. Cybertruck...not so much.

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