Tesla’s $140,000 Model X SUV Does 0-60 in 3.2 Seconds

http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/teslas-140000-model-x-suv-does-0-60-in-3-2-seconds-hits-the-road-starting-tonight/

by hack4supper • 11 years ago

76 67 11 years ago

techcrunch.com

aresant• 11 years ago

If you missed the live stream they just posted it here:

http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx

The gull-wing-in-a-tight-space starts at ~18 mins in

trymas3• 11 years ago

Yeah, that's cool, but how about a garage?

Those doors lift quite high, and some garages or underground parking lots, have low ceiling. Though, this car is so expensive that probably a customer will have a garage the size of normal house..

extrapolate• 11 years ago

A few minutes after that part in the video he shows a demo of how it "uses sensors to adjust the door opening arc" or something and discusses the height issue.

Edit: It is at 20 minutes in.

Cookingboy3• 11 years ago

Serious question, can you still put a bike/ski rack on top of your roof? The more I learned about this car the more I went "that's cool, but WHY????"

mikeyouse3• 11 years ago

Check out right at 25:00 into this video, they have a pretty slick bike / ski mount that attaches to the rear of the SUV and still allows access to the trunk:

http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx

jonah4• 11 years ago

Yes, there will be some sort of roof rack. (Though a hitch rack like the sibling comment mentions is far more aerodynamic.)

ulyssesgrant• 11 years ago

Strange the author didn't mention anything about the impressive safety ratings

Cookingboy3• 11 years ago

It's pretty impressive overall, but for an SUV (people very often take them for longer camping/ski/road trips) to have a maximal range of only 260 miles (super charger stations won't be very common on the way to Yosemite), and base price of $35k MORE than a BMW X5M (while being slower and has way less range), this is truly a niche product for a very niche demographic.

I think the technology involved is fantastic, but it feels more like a product where they built it simply because they can.

EDIT/Disclosure: I own shares of TSLA. I was hoping of a X5/Q7/Caynne competitor that starts at $50-$70k, not a X5M/Caynne Turbo competitor which in themselves are very, very ridiculous and niche cars.

calcsam• 11 years ago

> super charger stations won't be very common on the way to Yosemite

With the current demographic of Tesla buyers? Give this three months.

toomuchtodo• 11 years ago

I drove through all of Utah for the last three days, and there were Tesla destination chargers at both best westerns I stayed at, as well as a lodge at Brian Head near Bryce Canyon.

Charging infrastructure is the least of Tesla's concerns. They deploy, on average, one new supercharger station each day. This does not include the destination chargers I mention above, which are much cheaper and faster to install.

reklawnos• 11 years ago

I don't think this is really aimed at people who "take them for longer camping/ski/road trips," though.

For a while now, SUVs, like the Audi Q5 and the BMW X5 that the Model X is trying to compete with, have been basically a "cooler" alternative to minivans. The key feature they share is the space and seating that they provide, but having off-road capability is useful to a small subset of SUV owners and is just there to add to the cool factor that differentiates it from a minivan.

Tesla is trying to grab the wealthy, 30-to-50-something parents whose focus on luxury and style prevent them from buying a minivan, which would probably suit them and their driving habits better than an SUV. Take a look at wealthier suburbs of San Francisco (e.g. Marin) and you'll see tons of luxury SUVs without a speck of mud on them.

The ads for these SUVs really reflect this trend. Audi demonstrates the prevalence of SUVs-as-kid delivery machines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soJs3ZUYtLI

While Lexus tries to present the same car Audi was bashing as sexy but safe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rohl8v_IGKk

mikeyouse3• 11 years ago

Most importantly for these purposes, the range on the Model X is sufficient to drive from Palo Alto to Lake Tahoe (220 miles) or Yosemite (165 miles) without issue.

jonah4• 11 years ago

They showed it pulling an Airstream[1] during the event. I didn't hear whether they stated what range that would get though. ;)

[1] http://i.imgur.com/AEAw6xN.png

outericky2• 11 years ago

I don't think he was implying off roading. Just a road trip. They did show it pulling an airstream with 10 bags of luggage. Surely they weren't implying a trip down the street. Camping is [typically] done in more remote areas, like Yosemite. So 260 miles is a pretty poor range for a vehicle like that when your destination may not have charging stations.

betadreamer• 11 years ago

If you look at the livestream, the target is not for outdoors but more toward families. Car seat was mentioned numerous times and the having front storage for strollers are great. As a new dad i barely use my suv for outdoors anymore (baby gets fussy) and my trunk is always 75% full because of the stroller.

Model X is my dream comes true car. Except I can't afford it :P

Cookingboy3• 11 years ago

Then make the car cheaper, most families aren't going to care about how they can accelerate their toddlers to 60mph in 3 and half seconds.

nrp• 11 years ago

Those price points are for the launch era P90D special editions, which are presumably aimed at the X5M and Cayenne Turbo customer. I imagine the prices on the base 90D and 70D will be closer to X5/Q7/Cayenne after Federal/State tax incentives, though probably still a bit higher.

stefanix• 11 years ago

Tesla website is pretty clear who they market to. People who buy SUVs to feel safer. See HEPA filter mentioned as central feature. Also this is not a niche demographic. I would not be surprised if the majority of SUVs are commuting and shopping vehicles exclusively.

pinaceae• 11 years ago

Until some idiot soccer dad/mom kills someone by not being able to handle such accelaration.

Killed Paul Walker (gas engine).

Syrup-tan• 11 years ago

I assume there are multiple steps you have to take in order to reach that performance, ie having to put it into ``Ludicrous mode'', then forcing the pedal to the floor. I assume it isn't something that could happen easily on accident.

It's also notable that Paul Walker wasn't driving when he died.

wingerlang• 11 years ago

He didn't actually say that Walker drove the car.

jonah4• 11 years ago

The Carrera GT is a notoriously hard-to-handle car. It's twitchy and has very few electronic "nannies".

Any car can kill you if you drive it outside its safe envelope.

exDM692• 11 years ago

The Carrera GT is a notoriously hard-to-handle car

It's a really well balanced car with a good weight distribution and handles beautifully. The issue is that it's very different feeling to having an engine at the front and the center of gravity further forward.

If someone who is not used to mid-engined cars gets it into a slide, they'll be caught by surprise and probably lose control completely. But with a little bit of practice, it can be driven hard and recovered from pretty nasty slides.

melted• 11 years ago

$140K and "falcon wing" doors only in the back. Epic fail. They seem like an afterthought that way. Sure, you can open them in tight spaces, but you won't be able to get into the car because the front door is basically the same as any other car door. Why bother with the back doors then?

djrogers• 11 years ago

The back doors have to be longer to accommodate both rows of rear seats. Shorter front doors open in tighter spaces than longer traditional back doors would.

Same reason they out sliders on vans and minivans - bigger openings.

tempestn• 11 years ago

Also you won't have child car seats in the front seats. Having rear doors that get completely out of the way even in very narrow spaces will be huge for parents of young children. Squeezing yourself through a narrow opening into a front seat is comparatively pretty easy.

klaussnta• 11 years ago

As much as I admire the engineering that went into the design of this vehicle I'm not looking forward to sharing the road with inexperienced drivers with vehicles of this size and weight with this much acceleration.

butwhy• 11 years ago

Yes, because inexperienced drivers tend to buy $130k vehicles.

joosters• 11 years ago

Perhaps their rich parents buy it for them?

txrit2• 11 years ago

Inexperienced drivers and drunk drivers. Where I'm from there are many inexperienced drivers with lots of money due to political connections. In fact inexperienced drivers are almost a target market for cars in that price range here. There are also brats with rich parents. There's also pretty widespread drunk driving across the board.

baq• 11 years ago

of course they do. the car's an statement about your social status and there are people who care more about that than their driving skills.

ulfw• 11 years ago

Wow. You must have never lived in an area abundant of trust fund kids. A lot of people I see drive $100k+ cars barely (if at all) have a job that could reasonable pay for such a vehicle.

dsfyu404ed2• 11 years ago

When a soccer mom gets skittish and buries the wrong pedal do you really want her doing it in something with the weight of a Ford Expedition and the performance of a sports car?

mixmastamyk2• 11 years ago

Looks like they improved the front styling... wonder if the interior has been improved.

txrit2• 11 years ago

Oh great, another urban tank, this time with much more power.

andygates2• 11 years ago

I'm torn between "yay, another Chelsea hyper-tractor" and "yay, a super-cool future-car". But mostly "cool!"

garrettheaver2• 11 years ago

I'm really not sure how the Model X is going to perform. I really don't think the European market will go for the gull-wing doors. On a sports car yes, but on an SUV? I sincerely doubt it but I'd be happy to be proven wrong if it works well even in our über tight parking spaces and seriously narrow lanes.

olau• 11 years ago

It seems to work well in the video here - the doors are pretty flexible, equipped with motors and sensors so they can adapt: http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx

garrettheaver2• 11 years ago

Yeah it looks pretty good there alright. Like I said, I'd be happy to be proven wrong but a few things spring to mind.

1. Once fully extended, the door seems to protrude out from the car a bit which may cause a problem if you're tight against a wall. I'd be curious how they have solved this? It may be that we just can't open the door similar to a regular door when you're forced to park too close to the wall?

2. Similar to above, since the door protrudes a bit, what happens when there are Xs parked beside each other?

Other than the door questions I agree it looks like a superb SUV. If Tesla can manage to convince people on the door design and it reviews as well as the S did, then they've another great product on their hands.

lordnacho• 11 years ago

This is just awesome. I'm hoping to get one of these next time I need a car, which will be in a good few years.

If you compare Tesla's X and S to other cars, nothing really compares. How many cars fit 7 people yet accelerate like a Ferrari? How many cars effectively have 2 boots without being a van? How many cars cost a tiny fraction of the price to drive the same distance?

At that price point, you tend to be looking at either a little sports car, a luxury tourer, or a family tractor. This compares favourably with all of them.

At the moment the downside isn't even that bad: battery life will probably improve with time, and you can already go as far as most people need. Yes, your grand tour of the continent will take a few more stops, but pretty soon I'm guessing it will be close enough. And already the car drives itself. That's a huge, huge win.

I am expecting some competition though. I can't imagine the established manufacturers letting Tesla take the market in electric cars. That will hopefully bring down the price and increase variety.

ZeroGravitas• 11 years ago

I wouldn't bet on the established manufacturers, they can cruise along making money for a long time without needing to change their mindset. There's a good video talk by one of the Tesla founders who points out that the reason they can build a car is that the big manufacturers outsourced everything, and so they can buy wheels, suspensions, wipers, windows etc. from the same places as the incumbents.

The only thing they didn't outsource, the thing they think of as their core, is the engines. Which is the one bit that Tesla, and the future, neither needs nor wants.

But I'd expect to see a few more new names in this area, like BYD (a battery company, so you know their priorities are well aligned).

thedrbrian• 11 years ago

A 2500kg child wagon doesn't compare in any way to a sports car.

No one is going to cross shop this behemoth and an MX-5

lafar6502• 11 years ago

doesn't look like SUV at all - just a hatchback

jasonoliveira• 11 years ago

It's a very nice car, but I could buy two Porche Cayennes for the same price. Or a bungalow in Manitoba. or a houseboat.

If Apple is looking to compete with Tesla with their rumored iCar, we should probably expect a similar price. Someone will probably buy them, but that person won't be me.

scrumper• 11 years ago

This is exactly the car I want: a six seat electric car with enough space for my wife and me, our two kids, a brace of grandparents, a stroller, pack & play, whatever crap we buy from the county fair we visit, and enough range for a weekend trip. It's ideal. It is, however, twice the new list price of the used Mercedes GL that currently fills that role for us and even zero fuel costs don't make up for that over 5 years. It's a downpayment on a house, or a four figure lease. Not for us.

I'm pretty excited for the future though. This kind of thing will get cheaper. Tesla may be able to swallow the risk of offering warranties on used vehicles as more long-life reliability data comes in.

Tesla’s $140,000 Model X SUV Does 0-60 in 3.2 Seconds

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