Tesla Model S Shooting Brake - update!
The Norfolk-built shooting brake is complete by the looks of it...
It's complete! Certainly that's what Qwest Automotive, creators of this remarkable Tesla Model S Shooting Brake, is saying. In a Tweet over the weekend it said the car "connected to the #ElonMusk network became visable and moved", which is significant progress from when we saw it last month.
Since then there have been no further updates, but how exciting to see such an ambitious project take shape. More when we see it...
[Source: Qwest Automotive, via Twitter]
The Tesla Model S can arguably claim credit as being the car which brought EVs in from the cold. Whatever the company's current production and profitability shortcomings may be, few could argue with the crucial role it's played in helping to turn the tide of public opinion. You certainly wouldn't have seen a G-Wiz wowing PHers at last year's Skoda Sunday Service the way one member's P80D did.
Familiar, but also very different too
This was a problem for Model S owner Phil Hayton, who found that his pride and joy was somewhat lacking when it came to accommodation for Ted, his canine companion. An issue he relayed to a friend one night at the pub - where else does this sort of thing ever start?
Luckily for Phil, that friend was Dorian Hindmarsh, a man with 20 years experience in the automotive and motor racing sectors. He in turn soon sought out the expertise of Jim Router, an engineer with some serious credentials of his own. Having tried his hand at Le Mans and supercar engineering, Jim has worked for a succession of top marques, including spells at Lotus and McLaren - he's also the designer of the wonderfully excentric Stealth Car.
They got straight to work, developing a unique new body section to transform the Model S into a suitably stylish and capacious estate. The proportions in the renderings do look decidedly - how to put it kindly - aftermarket. But things seem much more promising in the flesh, and this doesn't look to be just another garden shed cut and shut job. Far from it in fact.
What's the Tesla mode beyond Ludicrous?
Tesla was made aware of the project from the outset, and seems to be on board so long as none of the high voltage electrics are tampered with. This should mean continued support for the shooting brake when future updates are remotely released - there's no word on what it's done to the warranty yet though...
The whole operation has been branded as QWest and, in the tradition of the British coachbuilder, plans to modify more individual client cars on demand, rather than selling ready converted cars to new buyers. Going forward there will also be bespoke interior trim offerings from teak floors, to Nappa leather, with Qwest estimating a 10 week conversion time depending on spec. They also hint at the prospect of "other EV and Hybrid vehicle coach building and engineering projects" to come.
Whatever is next for QWest, Phil and Ted are soon to be the owners of the world's first EV shooting brake. You can learn more about the project, and see what happens next, in the latest episode of Fully Charged, here.
[Source: Carscoops]
ks about how fast a tesla is, it isn't any more economical than an old car to have made, its WAY worse, which offsets it now. In ten years time, we will all be running power plants or generators at home to plug them into as the grid won't support them all, or the government will be forced into putting in more nuclear plants again. Plus all of the carbon and sea-fill non recycleable materials in the things. So short sighted! f
king peices of st that have also devalued and made the supercar mundane. Hateful bloody things.ks about how fast a tesla is, it isn't any more economical than an old car to have made, its WAY worse, which offsets it now. In ten years time, we will all be running power plants or generators at home to plug them into as the grid won't support them all, or the government will be forced into putting in more nuclear plants again. Plus all of the carbon and sea-fill non recycleable materials in the things. So short sighted! f
king peices of st that have also devalued and made the supercar mundane. Hateful bloody things.ks about how fast a tesla is, it isn't any more economical than an old car to have made, its WAY worse, which offsets it now. In ten years time, we will all be running power plants or generators at home to plug them into as the grid won't support them all, or the government will be forced into putting in more nuclear plants again. Plus all of the carbon and sea-fill non recycleable materials in the things. So short sighted! f
king peices of st that have also devalued and made the supercar mundane. Hateful bloody things.Horses for courses I suppose, but the whole eco friendly thing I don't buy into, plus any 100k car that doesn't make v12 noises isn't really a 100k car!
No, for me, that’s really not a very exciting thing to do.
On the other hand, remember those 456 shooting brakes that the middle eastern royalty used to commission? Those were pretty much as daft but kind of charming at the same time.
Best reserve judgement on this until it’s done but well done to the owner for having the passion to have it created! 👍🏻
ks about how fast a tesla is, it isn't any more economical than an old car to have made, its WAY worse, which offsets it now. In ten years time, we will all be running power plants or generators at home to plug them into as the grid won't support them all, or the government will be forced into putting in more nuclear plants again. Plus all of the carbon and sea-fill non recycleable materials in the things. So short sighted! f
king peices of st that have also devalued and made the supercar mundane. Hateful bloody things.Be safe in the knowledge that no one will take away your V12 Lamborghini any time soon. There’s space in this world for all sorts, including *whispers* electric cars....
For me, it's estate XJSes - YMMV
This isn't looking like it's going to be a winner in the looks dept - but then it was too "Mazda 6" in the firstplace?
Tesla is able to re-use 10% of its battery pack (by weight), and this is facilitated by the companies Umicore (in Europe) and Kinsbursky Brothers (in the U.S.), which break the batteries down so that they yield cobalt that can then be re-used in new batteries (Kelty). In addition, lithium from the batteries ends up in an environmentally friendly slag that generally ends up in construction materials such as cement (Kelty). Further, metals from the Tesla S can be assessed for their alloys and subsequently recycled (“Steel Recycling”). The steel is shipped via truck to steel mills where it is melted down and then sold to various manufacturers and re-used in new products (“Steel Recycling”). Plastics and glass from the Tesla S may also be recycled (“Plastic Recycling”; “Glass Recycling Facts”). Plastics are separated by type, chipped, and melted down into pellets; these pellets are subsequently sold to manufacturers and used in new products. The glass is also separated by type (usually by color), crushed, and melted, and then it is molded into new products. Despite being a large product with many parts made up of different materials, the Tesla S can be broken down – for the most part – and recycled like smaller, simpler products."
http://www.designlife-cycle.com/tesla-model-s/
EU end of life directive also sets targets for reuse and recycle of old cars etc...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Life_Vehicles...
Horses for courses I suppose, but the whole eco friendly thing I don't buy into, plus any 100k car that doesn't make v12 noises isn't really a 100k car!
king impressive that they've made an EV that you can actually use, then they're living in a dream world. Staying on topic I think it's an interesting idea. Wonder what the impact will be on range in the real world? king impressive that they've made an EV that you can actually use, then they're living in a dream world. Staying on topic I think it's an interesting idea. Wonder what the impact will be on range in the real world? Tesla talk like they'll have "hands on" their cars for their whole lives - much as they'd like to do that, it isn't going to happen.
If that did happen, we'd see cars going into the ground MUCH sooner than they do now - no-one will want an 8-year-old Tesla which has "new" Tesla running costs so their recycling will be needed MUCH sooner anyway - I don't think halving the life of a car is particularly env. friendly is it(*)??
(*) Note that cars are living shorter-and-shorter lives already, mostly thanks to them being crammed with badly designed/made electronics, I'm not sure we need to hasten that at this point? It's not like fridges, which are MUCH simpler than they were - cars are WAY WAY most complex and people are getting WAY WAY less use from them...
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