Pics Aplenty: Al & Ed's Autosound upgrades Tesla Roadster interior, audio system [UPDATE: w/VIDEO]
Tesla Roadster customized by Al & Ed's Autosound - Click above for high-res image gallery
Like your Tesla Roadster but don't think the car has enough pizazz on the inside? Just talk to Al & Ed's Autosound of West Hollywood, California. Based on the interior and audio upgrades they've applied to the black Roadster seen in the gallery below, Al & Ed's has made a beautiful car more impressive.
The seats now feature Mercedes Benz leather, Alcantara suede and extra thick stitching. Factory-standard speakers were removed in favor of Focal 165KRX2 component speakers and tweeters. Another upgrade to the Tesla was the carbon fiber door sills, which don't scratch as easily. A motorized Kenwood 7" touch screen sound system was added to provide more audio oomph. One downside to the new audio system is that it requires some extra juice to operate. As you can see here, a "standard 110 volt extension cord is required to plug in and charge the battery for the audiophile sound system," a representative of Al & Ed's told AutoblogGreen. "On a full charge are customers are getting up to 10 days of real life daily driving on the battery. It does not draw anything from the Tesla main power system." If you're already plugging in your car, is it really that much more work to plug in your sweet new radio as well?
UPDATE: added reader Doug's video after the jump.
[Source: Al & Eds]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
john 4:06PM (8/20/2009)
This sounds way cool ... but why can't the sound system run from the main Tesla battery?
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Doug 4:48PM (8/20/2009)
The audio system was installed by a third party, not Tesla engineers. It includes some high power amps to drive those door speakers and the sub in the passenger footwell.
The Roadster's 12 Volt system was designed for up to a certain amount of current and it was possible that that would be exceeded with this audio system. So to be safe, the installers put in a separate 12 Volt system to power the audio. Would suck to have a problem not covered by warranty because it was caused by your radio.
john 5:39PM (8/20/2009)
Thanks for the explanation - that does make sense. I was thinking they could run another line from the Tesla battery pack and install a DC-DC converter to create their own higher power accessory circuit for the amps and stuff...but there's surely a reason why they couldn't do that - maybe the Tesla battery pack isn't really accessible to tap in to, or maybe there are safety issues with adding a new high-voltage cable...
Doug 4:36PM (8/20/2009)
Here's a non-professional video I took of that car the night of the Model S premier party at SpaceX back in March.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms8fp8IDRFo
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Sebastian 5:11PM (8/20/2009)
Thanks Doug. I've embedded the video into the post.
Rick 5:22PM (8/21/2009)
The radio screen at night scares me, with the Model S as well. That monitor needs NEEDS a night mode. That will/would be/is so distracting to have that torch light right in your face as your are driving at night. The Model S has a HUGE screen, so it will be wayyyyy too bright if they don't tweak it.
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