While the size of the roof rails was apparent in the Rawlinson teasers, David sits up a bit higher and it almost looks like the roof rails interefere with his vision out the side windows.
Having sat in the cars at both the Miami and the West Palm Beach Design Studios, I can corroborate that the roof rails are massive. I noticed it immediately in getting into the cars, reaching to pull the doors closed, and getting out. In fact, I bumped my head on the roof rail getting out of the car in West Palm, and the sales associate said I was not the first one. In Miami, Zak Edson told me that Lucid was trying to figure out a way to reduce the size of at least the trim pieces (as the rail size is cast in stone).
On the other hand, once I made a point of paying attention, I noticed the rails on my Tesla Model S are pretty beefy, too. I can't remember if I found them intrusive when I first bought the car six years ago and just got used to them.
I certainly hope Rawlinson is right in claiming the car has achieved a vault-like feel. Otherwise, the massive roof rails are just going to be an annoyance without any offsetting advantage.
Speaking of vision interference: One thing I find annoying is the the glued/attached window visor on the windshield. They boast about the large expanse of glass, but cover it up with the window visor. A solution similar to the Tesla Model X, where the visor is to the side and swings out, if needed, would be better.
I, too, seriously dislike the "glued-on" and clunky look of those visors. I thought the wing design of the alpha car windshield looked far better.
However, I have test driven a Model X a couple of times and, although I like the stowed away position of its visors, I found them fairly puny in terms of how much protection they give you from sun glare -- something that is a real issue with the size of the overhead glass area. I have read numerous complaints on Tesla forums about their inadequacy.
These sweeping expanses of glass in the Model X and the Air create a real challenge for sun visors, as they have to cover far more glass area to battle sun glare than in metal-roofed cars or even cars such as the Model S or Rivian in which there is a substantial bar over the top of the windshield before the glass roof panel begins. One of the least-liked features of the Model X is that expansive glass extending over the driver's upper vision periphery. I have a feeling that, at least until technology for localized electrochromic darkening comes along, this feature will turn out to be a short-lived design conceit.
