Tesla Model S design critique by a UI designer

Tesla Model S is a great car. I’m definitely not a car designer, but I’m a potential customer – or at least I was before purchasing a different car. Here are my pointers, I’m very curious if anybody out there sees it the same way.

Headlights

Looking at 3D renders, images and videos on the official site, you will never notice this. All of them have boosted brightness on headlights, so you can’t see they look like a cheap X-mas three lights. (Un)luckily there’s no shortage of Tesla cars around Palo Alto...

In the newer models they tried to diffuse the effect.

There are many car companies who got this right. It’s slowly becoming also their signature look. Let’s look at Audi or Mercedes Benz.

I’m not comparing it to any super luxurious car. These cars are much cheaper than the Tesla’s price range. Audi A5 or the MB C-class starting around $40k.

The Front Plastic Thingy

It’s a first car motivating you to have a front license plate. Which is good, besides Federal Tax credit, you’ll save also on random tickets.

“Model S” sign

Maybe there was not time left for the model logo & signage. Maybe they wanted to create a contrast to simple, geometric and elegant Tesla logo. My friend calls it “a tramp stamp”.

Good news?

Judging on the newest photos of Tesla Model X and visualizations of Model 3, it seems that most of the reservations above got some attention.