I commented on your thread with the dual-level basket, but I guess I should have read further.
Both are good ideas.
Good ideas that Weber never followed through on. There is certainly the economics of how many would be sold compared to those hard core grillers that are found here. Demographically it's still a small slice.
With this I can raise it up for a sear, lower it to cook. It's a little different style in that a thinner layer of coals are used because even at the lower position, it's a little closer than a regular grate position. Just a little bit of change in the technique.
Some of the mechanism was carried over for this gigantic charcoal grill I designed -housed in a Summit cook box and frame! From a few feet away it looked like a gas grill with one control -dual gas assist taken from the Performer torch. Then a 4 bar mechanism on the right and the left to raise and lower the charcoal (all under the standard Summit cook grate positions. The thing was an absolute beast.
There were some issues that could have been worked out as it was only a breadboard/concept. They didn't think people would care for the look of a gasser that was charcoal and vice versa. And into the scrapyard it went.....
At the time, the whole idea of SEAR was seared on everyone's brains. At one point even my oncologist was asking how to get a sear on his grill.