A Home for Your Sunglasses. Finally.
Tesla didn't put sunglasses storage anywhere in the Model 3 Highland or Model Y Juniper. We 3D-scanned the only gap big enough to use — the narrow slot behind the armrest — and built to it.
The Problem
Where Do You Actually Put Your Sunglasses?
Get into a 2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland on a sunny day. Put on your sunglasses. Now, five minutes later, you drive into a tunnel. Where do you put them? The cup holders are taken. The door pockets are shaped wrong. The armrest storage requires opening the lid, fumbling past whatever's inside, closing it again. The glove box needs three taps on the touchscreen to open. You end up sticking them on the dashboard where they slide around every time you brake.
The aftermarket answer is usually a sun-visor clip. It holds the glasses, blocks half the visor, and looks like it fell off a rental car. Or a top-of-dash tray that slides around and scratches the dashboard. Neither solves the problem of having somewhere your sunglasses just live — ready-to-hand, no fuss.
We kept hearing the same story from Highland and Juniper owners: "Tesla's interior is beautiful until I need to put something down." Sunglasses are the canonical version of that problem. They're the object you handle most, with the fewest places to keep them.
So we scoped this as a real-estate problem. Look at the center console and find the one volume that isn't claimed by the cup holders, the wireless charger, the armrest storage, or the phone tray. If that volume exists, fill it. If it doesn't, we don't ship the product.
Precision First
We Scanned the Gap Nobody Else Noticed
The Model 3 Highland's center console looks fully allocated at a glance. Two cup holders, an armrest with storage underneath, a wireless charging dock, and a phone tray. Every surface claimed. But the scan revealed a narrow rectangular slot between the armrest cushion's front edge and the rear wall of the cup holder assembly — about 191.6mm long, 78mm wide, 18mm tall. Big enough for a pair of aviators lying flat. Small enough that nothing else can use it.
We brought a Scantech handheld structured-light scanner into a 2024 Model 3 Highland and captured the full console cavity at 0.02mm resolution, focusing on that narrow slot and the 3° inward taper on the armrest side, the 2mm factory rib on the cup-holder side, and the slight step where the carbon-look trim panel meets the leather.
The scan numbers became the product brief: 191.6mm long, 78mm wide, 18mm deep usable, tapered sides to match factory draft angles. A tray that hit those dimensions exactly would fill the only free space in the console. A tray that missed them by 2mm either wouldn't seat or would stick up above the armrest line.
The Concept
Fill the Slot, Disappear the Rest
The holder is a single-piece TPE tray, molded to the exact inverse of the slot. Drop it in and it sits flush — below the armrest lid line, above the cup holder rims. The top face is a textured shelf that keeps sunglasses from sliding when you take a corner. The bottom face has a soft anti-slip zone that grips the factory trim without adhesive.
Exact-Fit 191.6mm
Scan-derived dimensions fill the factory slot without play. The tray doesn't shift under acceleration or braking.
Sits Below the Armrest Line
Top surface is 2mm below the closed-armrest plane. The armrest still closes flush over it; passengers can't see the tray unless they look for it.
Textured Shelf for Glasses
A low-profile TPE micro-pattern on the top face keeps the glasses from sliding. No slot, no clip — just enough friction.
Extra Pocket for Cards & Coins
A shallow recess at one end holds an ID card, a key fob, or a few quarters. The space that was zero becomes dual-purpose.
Trial & Error
Three Iterations on the Depth
The length and width were settled by the scan. The depth was the hard variable. Too shallow and sunglasses roll out when you corner. Too deep and the armrest lid catches on the tray when it opens. We printed three prototypes just to sweep the depth dimension.
Gen 1 — 22mm Depth
Matched the slot depth at the scan's maximum. Sunglasses fit cleanly. Armrest lid hit the tray's rear edge when opening — the last 5° of lid travel was blocked. Unusable.
Gen 2 — 14mm Depth
Cleared the armrest lid in every position. Sunglasses sat so low in the tray that medium-frame aviators rolled out when the car cornered at 0.4g. Too shallow.
Gen 3 — 18mm Depth with Front Lip
Found the dimension: 18mm well depth clears the armrest lid (verified at full open), plus a 3mm raised lip on the front edge that catches sunglasses rolling forward. Every frame style we tested stayed put through 0.6g lateral.
Verification
191.6mm, Caliper-Verified, Glasses-Tested
Every prototype ran through the same bench protocol: caliper verification on six points, test-install in a 2024 Model 3 Highland, armrest open/close cycle test (200 cycles), and lateral shake test with six different sunglasses models in the tray (aviator, wayfarer, oversized, clip-on, driving, sport). The success metric was simple: at the end of the shake test, every pair had to still be in the tray.
A sunglasses holder works when you stop thinking about it. You drop your glasses in, you drive, you grab them when the light changes. If any step in that loop requires attention, the design isn't done.
Materials
Why TPE, Not ABS or Felt
| Component | Material | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tray body | Soft-flex TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) | Absorbs impact if you drop keys into it. Grips the factory trim without adhesive. Doesn't scratch the leather armrest side wall. |
| Shelf texture | Molded micro-pattern | Enough friction to hold glass lenses without marking them. No felt to pill or collect dust. |
| Front lip | Integrated 3mm raised edge | One-piece with the shell. Catches frames rolling forward under braking without acting as an obstacle when reaching in. |
| Finish | Matte, UV-stabilized | Doesn't get glossy in heat. Matches the factory matte trim on the console. |
We evaluated felt-lined trays (pill, collect dust, look dated after three months) and rigid ABS (scratches the factory trim, rattles in the slot). TPE was the only material that passed every test. It's also the reason we can offer this without an adhesive strip — the TPE's surface friction is enough to hold the tray in the slot by itself.
The Result
What You Actually Get
| Feature | What It Means for You |
|---|---|
| 191.6mm scan-derived fit | Fills the exact slot in the console. Doesn't shift, doesn't rattle. |
| Below the armrest line | Invisible when the armrest is closed. Doesn't change the interior look. |
| 18mm well depth | Holds any frame style — aviator, wayfarer, oversized, sport — with a front lip that catches them under braking. |
| Textured shelf + 3mm front lip | Sunglasses stop sliding when you corner. Tested to 0.6g lateral. |
| Extra pocket at one end | ID card, key fob, coins, earbuds case — space that was zero becomes dual-purpose. |
| Drop-in install | No tools, no adhesive. Sits by geometry and TPE surface grip. |
| Matte finish matching factory trim | Reads as OEM when the armrest is open. Nothing aftermarket about the look. |
| Fits 2024+ Model 3 Highland and 2025+ Model Y Juniper | Same center console module shared between both vehicles. Same tray. |
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this fit both the Model 3 Highland and the Model Y Juniper?
Will it fit older (pre-refresh) Model 3 or Model Y?
Does it interfere with opening the armrest?
How does it stay in place without adhesive?
Will sunglasses slide out when I corner?
Does it block the cup holders?
What else can I put in it besides sunglasses?
Will it scratch the factory trim?
Ready to Stop Losing Your Sunglasses?
The Slot Tesla Forgot to Use
191.6mm. 18mm deep. Scan-derived. Soft-flex TPE. Sits below the armrest line and turns the last piece of dead space in your console into somewhere your sunglasses actually live.
Shop NowFits 2024+ Tesla Model 3 Highland & 2025+ Model Y Juniper · Free US Shipping
