Featured Tesla Model 3 will probably have a solar roof option – maybe even ‘deployable’, says CEO Elon Musk

sure sure ... it's agreed, it's not about the usa, as the usa is not the big buyer of automotive transportation any more. Did i overstate the work-ability of PV on cars? I liked the gen II pv prius roof, but was it a big seller? I liked the benefit of it running a fan to help cool a car, but was that enough to justify the cost for enough buyers? It's not REALLY enough to run the vehicle, much, if at all. PV continues to drop in price. maybe someday enough buyers will come clambering for pv on cars. if it's cost makes it worth it. Are we there yet?

We have 40 panels on our roof rated at 225 watts. It's NOT 9,000 watts (240 watts x 40) despite our so cal location. Sometimes it's early morning or late evening. sometimes it's low azimuth fall, spring, or winter ... or rain or clouds. Right now, this time of year, clear mid-day, we produce 2,500 watts. But not a couple hours earlier, nor later in the day. Then on hot summer days, PV are less efficient, though the days are longer and the angle of the sun is more favorable.

roof top heat loss is partly mitigated by being mounted a few inches above the roof material so as to cool from both sides. Not so on a car roof. That'd look pretty dorkey & kill the cars drag CD. In fact, to the contrary the inside of a car in summer might hit 150 ̊ f.
So, even if you got a 100 watt panel, at best, with mid summer heat, or low azimuth off-season, or roof curvature, or early morning, late afternoon .... let's say you average 20 watt hours over the 10 hours of average sun angle & exposure. How far will the car really go ... how much benefit is it to run a fan a fan a little bit - versus the cost. Wasn't the Gen II PV sun roof something like $1,500 u.s.d. mark up? Yes, maybe worth it to a few.

 

Not Gen II, it was available on Gen III, but you knew that, right?

 

good catch - bad on me to not re-read b4 hitting 'send'.

man ... that was already a decade ago ... happy new year.



iirc - you couldn't get this option - if you also wanted the fancy lumbar 5or7 way motorized adjustable seat. had to take one option or the other. Toyota said both would add too much weight.

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Motorized seats are a waste of money. Once you find your setting it’s never used again. Yup my Gen III justed turned 11 years old. Still looks new. Happy New Year!

 

So today Tesla announced 2021 Model 3 will have heated steering wheels available. Mirai comes standard with a heated steering wheel, but never uses it and or the heated seats!

 

try hitting the road around 4 or 5AM. It's not a bad feature, even in soCal. It was likely added in the Mirai as Toyota/Lexus already has developed & implemented it in so many other models.
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• reclines for a cat-nap at a charger
• change position to avoid cramps or excessive time in one position
• more than one driver can easily tweak the seat and mirrors

Having done multiple, 700-750 mile trips in a single day, the electrically motorized seats make long distance travel comfortable and safe.

Bob Wilson

 

As with many options, some people find them useless, others find them irreplaceable.
For our household the solar roof would not be worth the increased cost and weight.
The heated steering wheel is nice, but not anything I miss.
The power seats are very helpful, to us.

Everyone will have their own measurements on the value of those things.

For manufacturers it isn’t a matter of weather or not an individual wants it, it is a question of what fraction of the entire market wants, and is willing to pay for it.

 

Source: China: Tesla Lowers Price For MIC Model Y, Annouces Start Of Sales

Made-in-China Model Y starts in China at ¥339,900 ($52,028), which is comparable to the price in the U.S.

Tesla has announced new, significantly lower prices for the Made-in-China (MIC) Model Y that entered series production at the Tesla Giga Shanghai. Customer deliveries will start this month.

There are two MIC Model Y versions available - both dual-motor, all-wheel drive: Long Range and Performance. Their prices are about 30% lower than in mid-2020:

Long Range, AWD version: from ¥339,900 ($52,028)
NEDC range of 594 km (369 miles)
previously, WLTP range of 505 km (314 miles) was shown
top speed of 217 km/h (135 mph)
acceleration 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.1 seconds
available with 19’’ Gemini Wheels and 20’’ Induction Wheels

Long Range, AWD Performance version: from ¥369,900 ($56,620)
WLTP range of 480 km (298 miles)
top speed of 241 km/h (150 mph)
acceleration 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.7 seconds
available with 21’’ Überturbine Wheels​

Bob Wilson

 

true - but having gone out for a drive in Montana Winters, and grabbing that out of the garage steering wheel was like laying your bare hands inside of a freezer. Without gloves, you can forget it.

Love love love heated steering wheels here.
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Source: Tesla Q4 2020 Vehicle Production & Deliveries | Tesla Investor Relations



Looks like Monday will be a good TSLA stock day.

Bob Wilson

 

In addition to uses bwilson4web noted, we have found it useful several times a year when having to move the driver front seat up temporarily to put a backseat down to load up large items in the trunk like a bicycle we bought a couple weeks ago. At 6' 2" the driver seat is back far enough that the back seat headrest will catch on it trying to put it down without moving the driver seat forward a bit.

At other times, when going in for say a free tire rotation or valet parking one comes back to the seat in a different position.

The problem with manual seats in these cases is that you can try to put the seat back (height, forward, recline, lumbar support, etc.) exactly to the perfect spot where it was before and never seem to get it just right. But with motorized/programmed, you press a button on the screen and the seat goes back to precisely where it originally was.

Count yourself among the luckiest climate-wise in SoCal where there are no winters. That was my original stomping ground and I somehow managed shorts all year round. Up here in NorCal the winters are significantly milder than the average of the rest of the States, but heated seats come in really handy even for my 3.5 mile commute to work from a closed garage.