
Tesla Model X Spotted on Public Road in Culver City, California - kirtijthorat
http://insideevs.com/tesla-model-x-spotted-on-public-road-in-culver-city-california/
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mitchellh
Ah hah! There is where it went.

This Model X has been on display at the Tesla Supercharger station in
Hawthorne for a few months now. I was there the other day and wanted to show
someone and noticed it was gone. I figured they were just working on it or
something.

I guess instead it was out for display around other parts of LA.

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Crito
_" Of note, the Model X has side mirrors rather than cameras. This is to
comply with federal regulations in the US. This change was made awhile back,
though some are still unaware of the alteration."_

It baffles me that anybody would even consider for a moment swapping out side
mirrors with cameras. I can move my head around to view different angles
though a mirror. Barring the possibility of head-tracking and rather snappy
servos, I cannot do that with a camera/screen setup.

You may as well try to have a restaurant replace their forks and knives with
iPads that display images of forks and knives instead. It'd be flash, but
hopelessly worse for its actual purpose (although at least my idea would not
actually be _dangerous_.)

 _(That is not to say that there is not room for
improvement:[http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/06/18/drexel_pr...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/06/18/drexel_professor_andrew_hicks_invents_side_view_mirror_with_no_blind_spot.html\)*)

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teleclimber
BMW's rear view cameras synthesize a top-down view of your car and the
pavement around it. Quite remarkable to see in action.

[http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/x5-e70-forum/38502d12611...](http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/x5-e70-forum/38502d1261153524-rear-
view-camera-top-view-bmw-x6-kamera-top-view-1400-.jpg)

This is not suitable for lane changing but I imagine creative use of cameras
all around the vehicle and proper placement of LCD displays could make those
mirrors look like dated technology.

I don't know what Tesla's implementation was but I am sure we can do better
than mirrors with blind spots.

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pselbert
Annoyingly this causes me to have to "accept" that I won't rely on the cameras
every single time I start the car. Without doing so I can't access the radio,
nav, etc.

Proximity sensors and cameras can be invaluable when parking though.

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teleclimber
Yes I saw that in my friend's BMW. Pretty annoying.

Imagine what it's going to be like with self-driving cars?

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kirtijthorat
It seems to be the only fully operational Tesla Model "X" yet in existence as
we don't have any other media source who has spotted or covered this model
before. Also, I personally think other car Mfg. need to support as Tesla
cannot be the only manufacturer lobbying for side cameras instead of mirrors.
The camera with sensors, and a rock solid software will ultimately do a
superior job with blind spots than the mirrors.

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philmcc
Edit. I read the article. It's white. I've seen a burgundy one before, so
there are at least two.

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jhgg
I was really hoping to see some Tesla Motors news during CES 2014. But I guess
I'll just have to wait for the Tesla press conference at NAIAS on Jan 16.

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base698
I am kind of surprised they have falcon doors. Where would your surfboards or
skis go?

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grecy
I think that's been a common complaint/question, and IIRC, Elon said they're
going to have some kind of rack option

