52 WheelsMag.com.au
Elon Musk’s family bus outblasts a Ferrari
Tesla Model X
IS THIS the year’s most
significant new car?
Wall Street thinks so.
Tesla only made 50,000
cars last year while GM
made nearly 10 million, yet
Tesla’s stock market value is two-
thirds that of GM ($US30b versus
$US44b). Wall Street has clearly
swallowed Elon Musk’s promise
to grow output tenfold – tenfold! –
in just two years, as the cheaper
Model 3 hatchback goes on sale.
First we get this Model X SUV,
Tesla’s second volume model
after the Model S sedan, and it’s
expected to more than double
Tesla sales.
The first thing you’ll want to
know about is those mad, double-
hinged ‘Falcon Wing’ rear doors,
intended to require less space to
open than conventional doors
and give better access. Instead,
they’ve given Elon a headache.
Getting them to work delayed the
launch, early US customers have
reported problems, and there’salready been a series of over-the-
air software updates.
Our test car’s doors opened
and closed with a wobble, and if
I stood in their way they pushed
me with sufficient force to take
a step back before they figured
out there was an obstacle. Their
practicality is dubious (no roof
rack, and good luck if there’s
snow), reliability remains to be
proven, and the Model X just
doesn’t need such kerbside
theatre when everything else
about it is so good.
The conventional driver’s
door powers open as it senses
you approaching, and closes
automatically when you touch
the brake. Okay, that’s another
gimmick, but the biggest
windscreen in any production
car – it arcs over your head like
a fighter-jet canopy – really isn’t;
the effect is sensational.
The rest of the cabin is familiar
from the Model S, so there’s
minimal switchgear becausepretty much everything is
controlled from the massive
central touchscreen that remains
hands-down the best user
interface in the car industry.
In the Model X, it also includes
an optional Bioweapon Defence
Mode (that’s its actual name),
which uses positive cabin
pressure and a medical-grade
air filter to scrub the cabin air
400-times cleaner than the
particulate soup outside. It’s
intended for the worst city
pollution, but Tesla claims it
will actually protect you from a
bioweapon attack. I didn’t test it.
There’s also the option of five,
six or seven seats. The third row
will take a six-footer, just, and
leaves a huge boot when folded
flat. The second row doesn’t fold
but each seat is mounted on a
single post, allowing space for
bags or third-row occupants’
feet. It’s a clever system, but SUV
buyers might prefer them to fold.
But why are we talking bootspace with an SUV that out-paces
a Ferrari to 100km/h?
Dynamically, the Model X feels
little different to a Model S. The
batteries deliver a range of up to
490km and are in the floor so the
car’s centre of gravity is low. As
a result, the taller, heavier SUV
body makes little difference to
its astonishingly composed, agile
and refined ride and handling.
Choose the full-house P90D
version with Ludicrous mode (it’s
Musk’s geeky Spaceballs reference)
and this seven-seat all-wheel drive
will use its 396kW and 967Nm
to crack 100km/h in 3.4 seconds.
Motors on each axle deliver
colossal traction, balance torque
and grip beautifully, and of course
produce all that torque instantly.
The Model X is as fast as a
Ferrari, and over the first few
metres feels like we expect the
Bugatti Chiron will. So long as his
doors keep working, Elon won’t
have any strife shifting them.
BEN OLIVERFIRST
OVERSEAS
DRIVE
PLUS &
MINUSSlow rear doors; second-row seats don’t fold; expensive Acceleration; refinement; charisma; space; smart technology