Fully Charged Gets Up Close & Personal With Custom Model S Wagon
The Fully Charged crew recently met up with the guys at QWest who have developed a custom Tesla Model S Shooting-brake, which is more commonly known as a wagon on this side of the pond. It is perhaps the only Tesla out there where people spend more time looking at the rear end than the usual juicy bits like the touchscreen.
This particular wagon was developed to allow the family dog more room to move in the car and has made him quite a celebrity. He even sports his own twitter handle, @TeslaTed. Wagons offer a significant improvement in storage space and functionality compared to traditional sedans and have a unique but passionate following around the world, so we were sure to see some Tesla wagons before long (and not just to transport the deceased to a funeral).
The team at QWest took a Tesla Model S and trimmed off the back, then beautifully bonded a horseshoe-shaped bridge of carbon fiber over the rear of the vehicle that lifts up the rear frame of the car. That bridge has been seamlessly bonded into the car with custom rear fenders and a custom pane of panoramic glass up top that opens up the back seats and gives those rear seats a similar feel to the Model X.
The modification serves to open up the rear volume of the vehicle and gives the rear seats a bit more headroom. Though, it does leave a bit of an awkward transition from the rear seat to the boot/trunk area. It looks as thought the frame that supports the rear window of the Model S was left in and a new support was added on top. It’s not an end-of-the-world design choice, but it stands out as the only awkward part of an otherwise very polished upgrade.
Zooming back to the boot area of the car, the body modification adds a full 7.5 cu ft to the rear storage area thanks to the higher roof and vertical rear door. One would think that making changes to the body like this — especially when increasing the volume of the interior of the car — would add weight, but no, compared to pre-modification weight, this baby is 12 kilograms lighter. That’s not going to win any awards, but it speaks to the high-quality design and craftsmanship of the largely carbon fiber framing additions.
The upgrade by the team at QWest is even more impressive in that it keeps the factory warranty from Tesla on all the important bits of the car intact. That’s right, the Tesla factory warranty still holds water after this significant upgrade, which is important to those who like the warranty as an insulator for the batteries or other drivetrain components and those who just don’t want to have to worry about anything.
Upon experiencing the beautifully crafted interior of the wagon, the ever colorful Robert Llewellyn creatively dubbed the customization a … “high caliber qwerky shizzle.” I’m no expert in his across-the-pond thug lingo, but the crazed smiles on his face make me think he’s a fan.
Check out their full dive into the custom creation below for all the juicy details.
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
