I don't know if it's an American thing, but I do like how the model numbers are really considered "names" and not "models" - they don't use (in)definite articles. They'll always say "This is Model S" or "What do you think of Model X?". "Model 3 was a great success at reveal". Not "This is the Model S"

 

Apple is just as silly in saying "...to enable flight mode on iPhone you do..." or "...to get to the Settings menu on iPad you..."  Personally I think it is stupid.

   Maybe BMW could add a Hungry Hippo feature?

Or VAG could put it on the Bentayga, Cayenne and Q8?

Well, I'm just about committed. Tomorrow is the confirmation of my order and no going back.

I know I'm committed,

My dad and SWMBO think I should be committed

Scary to think of what I'm going to shell out just before I pick it up, but it will all be smiles afterwards

Richard, are you going to one of the clubhouse events? I've registered for the one on Sunday 24th next to Heathrow. Tesla phoned me up yesterday saying they had over 100 registrations so have split the day in two parts - I'm going to the afternoon one.

Model X will be there for all to see too

I don't know if it's an American thing, but I do like how the model numbers are really considered "names" and not "models" - they don't use (in)definite articles. They'll always say "This is Model S" or "What do you think of Model X?". "Model 3 was a great success at reveal". Not "This is the Model S"

No, trying not to get caught up in the hype machine.

Tesla are clever, reminds me of apple and the iPhone.

No, trying not to get caught up in the hype machine.

Tesla are clever, reminds me of apple and the iPhone.

LOL Knowing you, the chances are they'd get you buying a Model X and preordering two Model 3s

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars/driver-power/95238/best-cars-to-own-driver-power-2016-results

http://www.autobild.de/artikel/tesla-model-s-facelift-2016-sitzprobe-8946691.html

 

Some cheesy German pics of the real deal in the link above.

 

Went to the Model X unveiling event at West Drayton yesterday. It was my first ever car meet that wasn't a Skoda one!

Very interesting, Georg Ell (head of Tesla UK) was there, did quite a lengthy speech about developments and other things.

Drinks, cakes and the world's supply of Jaffa Cakes was there for us to munch on whilst admiring and getting our sticky fingers (litterally!) on the X.

When I first saw pictures of it, I wasn't that impressed. Very nice of course, but still felt a bit neutral. Having now seen one in the flesh, I'll admit I've fallen for its charms. The ventilated synthetic leather seats alone are sooo comfy and to die for.

A few pics:

Nice shots Xav. Just can't help thinking it would be better with normal rear doors.....

 

But maybe I'm just being boring!

Yeah, the rear falcon wing doors are one of its party pieces but I see how it can come across as unecessary and you're paying quite a lot for the development of the tech to make it work.
 

The downsides I can think of are:

• Potential extra cost in manufacturing
• Potential extra risks / costs in repairs with its advanced ultrasonic sensors, dual pivoting points and motors.

The plus points are:

• Ease of getting in to the third row similar to a sliding door design but without the inaccessability issues in tight spaces
• Protected from the elements if you need time to get in / out or strap kids in.

The car is a design for lazy people though. Even the front doors open and close automatically without you having to reach out and pull / push handles!

 

The panoramic windscreen is just awesome. In the showroom, you couldn't really appreciate it as it's tinted at the top and you could only see the ceiling tiles. But once out on the road, you must get a sense of space.

I sat in an S today in Solihull and was very tempted to pop a deposit down for a III.

Haha, they're nice, aren't they Alex

 

I'm tempted as well to put a deposit down, just because current owners get priority reservation apparently.

 

I'm starting to have to think about moving on the Fabia though and don't know where to start with that...

Did you however see Tesla's utterly pathetic sunvisors!!!!!! Gosh they just had to download a Citroën Picasso or C3 brochure or the old Astra 3 door to see how to do this design with a rollerblind attached to the blind on a rail to extend the roof forward. Lots of Model X owners had to resort to additional tinting to stop glare from the gap that's left when you use the sunvisor TOTALLY ruining the whole effect when you want it open. Really the most utterly daft part of the X.

 

 

 

As to the falcon doors I was not convinced at all. Until I watched the day one launch video and saw Elon Musk explain them. He parked the X tightly between two other cars (with about 300mm on each side) and showed that even with a sliding door on a minivan you could not get in since the sliding door was in itself about 200mm deep taking up all the space. With the falcon doors, not only were they able to open in this space (due to the double hinges) but it left the whole 300mm gap open for someone to easily get in and out.

 

 

Alas the doors don't work well and the amount of teething problems with them have been significant according to the reports online. But hopefully should be sorted soon enough.

 

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/152394/20160422/tesla-model-x-owners-report-doors-and-windows-wont-close.htm

Edited 26 April, 201610 yr by 900000

The Model X's doors wouldn't work in a number of underground car parks in the UK, or in my garage.

Space sideways is fine, but they need overhead space to open into.

 

Personally I am not convinced it's a problem.

A complicated engineering answer to a question that hadn't been asked.

 

Remember, Telsas have the summon feature so you can pull it out of a space without opening any doors if someone parks too close...

The Model X's doors wouldn't work in a number of underground car parks in the UK, or in my garage.

Space sideways is fine, but they need overhead space to open into.

 

Personally I am not convinced it's a problem.

A complicated engineering answer to a question that hadn't been asked.

 

Remember, Telsas have the summon feature so you can pull it out of a space without opening any doors if someone parks too close...

 

 

Not so Richard. Watch the video.

 

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/how-the-tesla-model-xs-falcon-doors-handle-a-tight-park-1733788435

 

The sensors in the doors means it will open in very low garages and not hit the ceiling. You might just have to duck a bit below the bottom lip of the door but it will open just fine.

Not so Richard. Watch the video.

 

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/how-the-tesla-model-xs-falcon-doors-handle-a-tight-park-1733788435

 

The sensors in the doors means it will open in very low garages and not hit the ceiling. You might just have to duck a bit below the bottom lip of the door but it will open just fine.

 

But the fact remains that these doors took a while to design, no boubt added to the cost of the car and are a fairly complicated answer to getting in your car (well, the back row of seats anyway) when someone parks really close.

 

Yet you can just use the summon feature to drive the car out of the space or garage without opening a single door.

It's like they did it because it was something different, then Autopilot/summon came along and make them more of a show piece than something you actually need.

See the two images in this thread:

 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7574386-Tesla-sues-German-supplier-over-Model-X-falcon-doors&p=92381954

 

(I can't link them here due to file type)

 

Two heights given in the two images:

 

84.75" = 2,153mm and 93" = 2,362mm and that is to fully open them. They will automatically adjust their angle for lower ceilings of course.

Then you have the panoramic windscreen.

Can you imagine the cost/wait when that gets cracked with poor quality UK roads and a stone being thrown up.

 

I am not trying to be negative about the X, but I just don't think it's well thought out for real life use.

Telsa is allegedly making the drive system to last 250,000 miles, but hte X has a few features that are going to cost a fortune and time/hassle if they have issues or get damaged.

 

I really like the S and I think the 3 will be great.

But the X, while very impressive, has one or two novelty items too far IMO.

 

 

Edited 26 April, 201610 yr by BossFox

Then you have the panoramic windscreen.

Can you imagine the cost/wait when that gets cracked with poor quality UK roads and a stone being thrown up.

 

I am not trying to be negative about the X, but I just don't think it's well thought out for real life use.

Telsa is allegedly making the drive system to last 250,000 miles, but hte X has a few features that are going to cost a fortune and time/hassle if they have issues or get damaged.

 

I really like the S and I think the 3 will be great.

But the X, while very impressive, has one or two novelty items too far IMO.

 

 

 

 

 

As I said these windscreens are common now on many Citroëns and the previous Astra 3 door so not an issue to replace them. They are bigger yes but get fitted the same as any other windscreen.

 

Where the X falls flat for me is the Model 3. The only things the X brings to the party is a faster 0-60 time, two overtly complex rear doors and two more seats. It doesn't even look like a boxy SUV and for all intents and purposes looks exactly like the Model 3. Yet they want $100,000 more for an X over a 3!!! Does that make sense? Nope. 

 

The X would ONLY have made sense in my book if they had made it more boxy and SUV like in its styling and if it had had a proper higher drivetrain as you'd expect in an SUV/4x4. As it stands it's a severely overpriced and only marginally bigger copy of the Model 3. 

I don't think dimensions have been published for the M3, but I'm pretty certain the X is qute a bit bigger. It offers 7 seats instead of 5, has more storage capacity as it's effectively a hatchback as opposed to the "salloon" that the M3 currently is.

 

It's also certified to tow a 2.5 ton trailer which neither the X nor, I guess, the M3 will be able to.

I don't think dimensions have been published for the M3, but I'm pretty certain the X is qute a bit bigger. It offers 7 seats instead of 5, has more storage capacity as it's effectively a hatchback as opposed to the "salloon" that the M3 currently is.

 

It's also certified to tow a 2.5 ton trailer which neither the X nor, I guess, the M3 will be able to.

 

Even if it is 50% bigger, which it certainly isn't, it CANNOT be worth $100,000 more. The least value for money car on the UK market has been the Mercedes GLA in my book - a jacked up £18,000 A-class but for Evoque money. But this X is a 100 times more of a joke than even that in terms of what you get for your cash.

Wouldn't you say that this crazy pricing also applies to the Model S ?

Wouldn't you say that this crazy pricing also applies to the Model S ?

 

So an X is about $5,000 more than an S. And in me stating the X is $100,000 more than the 3, I was comparing the top X to the base 3 - naughty. A base X is $70,000 so only double the cost of a base 3. So not as ridiculous as I had made it out to be.

 

A base Superb is about £18,000 and the top of the range one is £34,000, so also about double. And that is within in ONE range. If you look at the cost of a base 3-series to a base 7-series the price gap is even wider. So the Tesla gap is actually quite small.

 

I correct myself then.

 

So to answer you: no the base prices of the S and X are not that silly to be honest and I can see plenty of peeps in that price point cross shopping either model with various ICE engined cars from BMW, Audi et al.

 

I still think the X should have looked more SUV like and less like a Russian doll clone of the soap bar Tesla shape they are doing for their cars.Stretching and pinching the S design to be taller has made for an awkwardly proportioned car.

Not so Richard. Watch the video.

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/how-the-tesla-model-xs-falcon-doors-handle-a-tight-park-1733788435

The sensors in the doors means it will open in very low garages and not hit the ceiling. You might just have to duck a bit below the bottom lip of the door but it will open just fine.

Plenty of London car parks you can just about get a mondeo in under the concrete beams, water pipes & air ducts.

Then there's soaking everyone & the inside of the car during a typical winter downpour.

Went to the Model X unveiling event at West Drayton yesterday. It was my first ever car meet that wasn't a Skoda one!

Very interesting, Georg Ell (head of Tesla UK) was there, did quite a lengthy speech about developments and other things.

Drinks, cakes and the world's supply of Jaffa Cakes was there for us to munch on whilst admiring and getting our sticky fingers (litterally!) on the X.

When I first saw pictures of it, I wasn't that impressed. Very nice of course, but still felt a bit neutral. Having now seen one in the flesh, I'll admit I've fallen for its charms. The ventilated synthetic leather seats alone are sooo comfy and to die for.

A few pics:

I'm sure my brother used to have a model car that looked like that when we were children. It was a Caption Scarlet/Joe 90/ Thunderbirds type of thing. I think it might have been white and had a crate of something that looked like gold in it?