Bench seat comeback in EVs?

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
11/04/2020 at 10:52 • Filed to: None

Interesting thought, but folks like supportive bucket seats, don’t they?

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DISCUSSION (19)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:09

I know why their coming back.

Kinja'd!!!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
11/04/2020 at 11:11

Oh dear...

Hey, did you chime in on the Archduke’s post about his exhaust/insurance? Thought you could give him some insight.

CobraJoe > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:12

If the EV starts filling the “utility first” type of niche, then bench seats seem entirely possible.

After all, most EVs seem to go for the “Futuristic simplicity” type of interior styling, so a bench would fit right in to the style. Plus most purposed designed EVs don’t have the transmission hump that made the middle seat so uncomfortable.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CobraJoe
11/04/2020 at 11:15

Considering how many 7-seaters are sold, seems like there’d be a pretty good market for more 6-seaters (what all big sedans used to be).

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:16

I didn’t. But I doubt his insurer would be willing to consider the changes. Auto claims are “insurance” but due to their low quantum and high volume, flexibility goes out the window.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
11/04/2020 at 11:21

Does the insurer have to actually sign off on it, or do they just give the repairer an all-in dollar amount for the fix which they could work with, and cover the cost of the difference (if any)?

CobraJoe > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:24

If there was a 2 row, 6 seat CUV available, we would have given it a solid consideration when we last bought a car. We only have 2 kids, but there are several occasions where 6 seats are needed. Not often enough to require a minivan, but often enough to be annoyed at requiring two cars and two drivers for two additional passengers .

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:30

It depends. Typically the insurer signs off on it, especially if it is a preferred shop and the insurer offers some type of warranty/guarantee

PowderHound > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:30

I would guess that bucket seats are inherently safer as well. Although if the person in the center of a bench seat had a 3 point harness it would possibly k eep their bits in the car

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CobraJoe
11/04/2020 at 11:34

The only 6 seaters on the market (other than trucks) are 3-row vehicles with captain’s chairs, I believe.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > PowderHound
11/04/2020 at 11:37

Yeah, I think you’re right - definitely a consideration. With a wide enough car, you could wedge a small “sometimes” seat between two buckets, I suppose, but kids are supposed to stay in the back these days.

CobraJoe > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:41

And in trucks, having a middle seat in the front of the crew cab is sometimes only available in the lowest trim level.

Is a leather seat and a flip up center console for a center seat an option on any new truck?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CobraJoe
11/04/2020 at 11:51

Could in 2018, not sure about now.

Kinja'd!!!

ranwhenparked > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 11:59

One can only hope. Given that 98+% of ICE cars are automatics as it stands now, there was never a valid reason for bench seats to go away in the first place. A Chrysler 300 isn't a corner carving track car for race tracks, how many g's are their drivers pulling in corners that they need heavily bolstered sports seats, anyway? And how many people are thinking of the totally flat, formless benches of the 60s and 70s, but ignoring the fact that the 60/40 split seats in 90s B-bodies and early 2010s Panther cars provided a perfectly acceptable amount of support and grip for daily driving.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ranwhenparked
11/04/2020 at 12:00

People like their cupholders...

ranwhenparked > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 12:46

Ford and GM had them pull out from the dash, below the radio and climate control. You could also put them in the center armrest that flips down when the middle seat isn’t in use.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/04/2020 at 13:24

It’s the market, Dave. With all these jobless people, taking out loans to buy Tesla cars, waiting for The Tesla Network to pay them to own the car?

Nah, a lot of over-stretched EV owners are going to be living in these things soon... and a bench seat is far, far easier to sleep on.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 13:37

It’s a good point...

Longtime Lurker > CobraJoe
11/04/2020 at 14:14

Ford Lariat can be speced with a leather front bench ,heated as well.