Elon promised "something special" for those that waited in line. I've proposed that it would be a "special" color, a la Signature Green (Roadster) or Red (S and X) (probably at an extra cost)
I love the signature red, and even the multi coat in the showroom, but in the light, the multi coat seems to me to lose something...I don't know, but the BLUE is really starting to grow on me....
old new by now, but in catching up on older episodes of the Ride the Lightning podcast (which is a good weekly-ish magazine style Tesla podcast) and came across his #35 show recap from being at the reveal. Toward the beginning, he mentions he went to take photos of the red prototype and said it did have the interior the same as the silver and matte black, but no battery.
The silver prototype is the one that Tesla is mainly using for dog and pony shows.
They had it out for photo shoots and also recently for supplier test drives at the Fremont factory. The black one was seen a couple of times in the wild.
The red one at the reveal was choked so I figure it either didn't have a battery or a drive train in it. Perhaps it was just a glider.
Unlike the black one, the red one has the final door handle design. So it's likely the newest of the mules. One theory that I've heard (and that makes a lot of sense) is that the red one has the "complete" controls - namely, a HUD. I could see them disconnecting the battery so that there was no chance of accidentally turning it on at the first reveal.
Elon promised "something special" for those that waited in line. I've proposed that it would be a "special" color, a la Signature Green (Roadster) or Red (S and X) (probably at an extra cost).
@MelindaV I don't think that Tesla will launch with as wide a palette as they had for the Roadsters, however. Try to check out pictures of a Roadster Skittles Run to see what dynamic color choices were available in the past.
Just came across this photo of the red rolling body that was at the original reveal and the Gigafactory event last summer. Interesting thing is it's turbine "center-lock hub" wheels are neked here and look like they really are a 5 lug 2-part wheel with the main wheel behind the brake....? @Mad Hungarian what are we seeing here? Are the turbines just another snap on wheel cover like the areos, but with a really unique wheel behind? Something that only functions on a non-functional prototype without things like brake lines?
Fake brakes. And apparently fake wheels too, if they're actually mounted behind the "brakes" like that. So those wheels were just "caps", not actually center-locks.
Furthermore, judging by the location of the rear brake caliper, I think these fake brakes are simply part of the wheel, and they rotate when the car rolls.
Compare the brake caliper position in the photo above to the reveal night photos.
Just came across this photo of the red rolling body that was at the original reveal and the Gigafactory event last summer. Interesting thing is it's turbine "center-lock hub" wheels are neked here and look like they really are a 5 lug 2-part wheel with the main wheel behind the brake....? @Mad Hungarian what are we seeing here? Are the turbines just another snap on wheel cover like the areos, but with a really unique wheel behind? Something that only functions on a non-functional prototype without things like brake lines?
@garsh is absolutely correct, these are one-off complete wheel/brake assemblies made for this display mule. There are some underbody pics of this car taken at the Gigafactory last year where we can clearly see that it's just a shell.
Agree that it looks like the whole rotor/caliper part spins along with the rim section. There is presumably a solid disc at the very back that supports it instead of spokes. Hard to tell at this resolution but I think there are five conventional lugs around the center hub hole and that's what's holding them on to some kind of simple hub/bearing that allows it move around.
And yes, also kills the notion that these wheels were real center locks, stuff you typically see only on top-trim exotics.
@garsh is absolutely correct, these are one-off complete wheel/brake assemblies made for this display mule. There are some underbody pics of this car taken at the Gigafactory last year where we can clearly see that it's just a shell.
Agree that it looks like the whole rotor/caliper part spins along with the rim section. There is presumably a solid disc at the very back that supports it instead of spokes. Hard to tell at this resolution but I think there are five conventional lugs around the center hub hole and that's what's holding them on to some kind of simple hub/bearing that allows it move around.
And yes, also kills the notion that these wheels were real center locks, stuff you typically see only on top-trim exotics.
I just saw a candy apple red model 3 heading south on 280 at about 10:00 PST.. didn't have time to catch a picture and my dashcam didn't see it on the other side of the median barrier.
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