Those are more generally known as gullwing doors, and Tesla should stop wasting time on them. Sealing can be done, but that's not their main problem. You have to duck under them to enter/exit. If you don't, you whack your head. Since getting into the back of a Tesla X will be a fairly uncommon thing, whacked heads will become a frequent occurance. And if it's raining, once you're inside you'll get rained on because there are gaps in roof coverage when the doors are open.
Maybe you don't care if they're on your Mercedes sports/nostalgia car. No one expects or wants them on a utilitarian vehicle like an SUV. I have tremendous respect for Tesla, but this shows they are still learning the ropes regarding auto design. Chris On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 5:56 AM, brucedp5 via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/advanced-cars/tesla-x-and-its-fabulous-falcon-doors > Tesla X and its Fabulous "Falcon" Doors > By Philip E. Ross 14 May 2014 > > [image / Tesla Motors > http://spectrum.ieee.org/img/TeslaMotorsModelXdoors-1400076449903.jpg > Tesla-X > ] > > One of the most alluring features of Tesla's planned all-electric Model X > is > its rear "falcon-wing" doors: They open upwards and can thus let people in > and out even in a very tight space. Besides that, it's cool, and coolness > is > Tesla Motors' middle name. > > However, as Musk has admitted, coolness comes at a price. Not only would > falcon-wing doors prevent owners from mounting a rack on the roof, they are > proving devilishly hard to seal against wind and rain. > > Why care about a roof rack? Because the Model X is touted as an SUV—one > based on the same platform as the Model S but selling for about half the > price—and SUVs are meant to port and carry. Still, Tesla can laugh off the > lack of a rack because such an add-on not only spoils the line, it also > digs > into aerodynamic efficiency, which of course is critical in any electric > car, given its range limitations. > > But there's no laughing off the need to keep the cabin sealed and the rain > out. It's all part of a more general carmaking problem known as fit and > finish. Poor fit and finish helped to hold back the famous British sports > cars of yesteryear, which may have looked every inch the James Bond marvel > but weren't much good unless you could stow a Cockney mechanic in the back > seat or in the "boot," to fix whatever broke or reattach whatever fell off > every few score miles. > > Seals are one of the primeval engineering gremlins, and they don't > necessarily yield to high-tech solutions. After all, it was a seal, the > O-ring, that felled the Space Shuttle Challenger. All this means that the > solution will likely come only through normal engineering work, which > involves trial and error, and therefore time, and therefore money. > > That's just one more reason why Tesla's latest financials show a bump up in > R&D expenditure. It's nothing to worry about; R&D is what the company is > all > about. > [© spectrum.ieee.org] > > > > > For all EVLN posts use: > > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date > > > http://www.modernreaders.com/missouri-officials-launch-sneak-attack-against-teslas-direct-sales-strategy/5960/lorenzo-tanos > Missouri Officials Launch “Sneak Attack” Against Tesla’s Direct Sales > Strategy > ... > > http://politicmo.com/2014/05/13/anti-tesla-bill-is-dead-in-missouri-says-house-leader/ > Anti-Tesla bill is dead in Missouri, says House leader > > > http://insideevs.com/happy-mothers-day-mother-daughter-duo-install-chevy-volt-battery-packs/ > Mother-Daughter Team Installs GM Battery Packs > http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140508/AUTO0103/305080058 > > http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/2195/20140508/byd-delivers-first-m.htm > BYD Delivers First US-Made Electric Buses in California > > > http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/11384313-113/chargepoint-charging-stations-ivgid > Tahoe district installs four electric-car charging stations > + > EVLN: GM moving Spark pack production to suburban Detroit factory > > > {brucedp.150m.com} > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-spectrum-ieee-looks-Tesla-X-and-its-fabulous-Falcon-Doors-tp4669563.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140519/5e07c61b/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
