The one with the Falcon doors. It’s still hard to believe they’re not from a concept car, but here they are, able to open in 11 inches of space, with sensors to prevent knocks against pillars or squeezing children, the Model X’s signature feature.
They’re unique, something they have in common with the rest of Tesla’s biggest car. Because it’s not an easy one to pigeon hole. It’s 4WD and seats up to seven people, but it’s hardly a conventional SUV. Can you imagine one heading off across a muddy field? Exactly. And then there’s the way it looks. It’s more hatchback than conventional family wagon. Hardly a handsome hatch either.
Is that a bad thing?
Not necessarily. In fact it’s stood Tesla in good stead, suiting the firm’s more disruptive nature. And it’s not as if buyers have given it a wide berth, as it’s firmly established in the upper reaches of the family car price bracket.
Underneath it shares a platform and motors with the Model S saloon, using either a dual- or tri-motor setup and the same 100kWh battery. This sits low in the centre of the car, and combined with the compact electric motors ensures not only a flat floor throughout the cabin, but also a useful load space under the bonnet as well as a huge boot.
What kind of money are we talking?
If only we could tell you. Early in 2021 Tesla decided to stop offering both the Model X and the Model S in the UK, leaving the Model 3 and Model Y as its only representatives in Blighty. Weirdly the online configurator remains active so you can still go through the process of ordering your brand new Model X by placing a deposit of £100. But Tesla can’t tell you when the car will or arrive. Or how much it’ll cost when it does. Funny old company, isn’t it?
A newer, updated version of the X is available in Europe; in Germany it starts from €120,990, and when we do finally get a UK price it’ll be interesting to see where it’s pitched against others in the segment such as the Mercedes EQC and Audi e-tron.
The best we can do for now is refer you back to the two previous versions of the Model X: the Long Range (£91k) and the Plaid (£111k). Both are very powerful, the entry-level version developing 553bhp, and the Plaid producing 1,006bhp. Yes, that really does say one thousand and six brake horsepower. That’s more than enough for both cars to overcome their 2,500kg, the Long Range able to hit 60mph in 3.8 seconds, while the Plaid sees off the benchmark sprint in 2.5s. Two point five! Top speeds of 155 and 163mph apiece, too.
How far can it go on a charge?
The Long Range manages a claimed 360 miles on a charge, compared to the Plaid’s 340. Both give you free access to Tesla’s superb Supercharger network – an offer that lasts as long as you retain the vehicle. Second owners have to pay for the privilege.
Our choice from the range
Tesla
90kWh Dual Motor Performance 5dr Auto
£103,080
What's the verdict?
“Its rivals are better built and more familiar, but the Tesla is big, airy and has a sense of humour”
Are you thinking an electric SUV could be your next family car? But this one seems too radical? Give it the benefit of the doubt. In developing an electric car from scratch, Tesla still holds a narrow lead over less well packaged and creative rivals from Audi, Jaguar, Merc and virtually every other mainstream manufacturer right now. Yes, its rivals are better built and more familiar, but the Tesla is big, airy and has a sense of humour. And that’s not just because it’s got a fart mode and upwards-opening doors.
It’s a fun and engaging family car with room for everyone and a more playful personality than the outwardly plain looks suggest. And you can’t ignore the charging network: that alone removes so much of the hassle and frustration from the switch to electric. It’s a very good car, the Model X. Not a conventional SUV, sure, but a thoroughly capable family wagon.
Audi Q8 e-tron
£71,505
Jaguar I-Pace
Mercedes-Benz EQC
Continue reading: Driving
Driving
What is it like to drive?
Ask most people what they know about how a Tesla drives and they’ll cite one of two things – it’s amazing acceleration or its self-driving ability. One is a stand-out feature, the other is more of a novelty. Do you need the extra pace of the Plaid version? Of course not. The Long Range is not only plenty fast enough, but ask yourself how the kids in the back are going to cope with crisps and drinks when an errant parent has just unleashed 0-60-in-2.5. Actually, scratch that, they’ll find it hilarious. It’ll be you that doesn’t when you’re on your hands and knees trying to clean it later.
The Model X is fast. But it’s also very, very smooth. Coming from an internal combustion car? That’s the biggest difference you’ll notice: no gearchanges, no engine vibration, barely any noise. The throttle is brilliantly well calibrated, so it creeps easily along with town traffic and despite its size, it moves well, responding instantly and crisply, giving you confidence in tight spots.
What about outside of town?
It’s less good, with structural stiffness is the first and most obvious drawback. That might not sound like a biggie, but you sense the body twist, feel shudders, hear the trim creak. If there was engine noise maybe it would be less obvious, but there isn’t so you notice. And the ride is simply too firm. It’s been done to keep roll and heave in check, but the Model X thumps and bangs along B-roads. On coarse surfaces there’s tyre noise, and it reflects back from the giant windscreen, making the Model X that bit more hectic than it ought to be.
Handling isn’t its strong suit then?
Correct. We already know the Model X is plenty fast enough at getting itself between corners, but those corners then pose it… issues. It’s a bit scrappy really, you don’t get any sense of what the steering is up to, but a great deal of awareness of how much weight you’ve just tried to make slow down and change direction. So yes, it’s fast in a straight line, but no you won’t drive it like that. Not least because with no separation between load bay and seating area, anything in the boot comes sliding and crashing through. Brakes? Never been Tesla’s forte.
What about this self-driving malarkey?
Don’t believe the hype. Or rather, be wary of the hype. ‘Full Self-Driving Capability’ was a £6,800 option when the Model X was on sale here, but if you think you’ll be able to pump your destination into the nav and bed down for a nap, think again: this is a driver aid, not a driver replacement.
Without it the car will still follow other traffic and hold itself in lane, and the less expensive ‘Enhanced Autopilot’ will also be able to change lanes, parallel park itself and be summoned across a car park or similar via the phone app for about half what FSDC costs. The main advantage of having the system is that it’s future proof. As Tesla improves the technology (and it has a long way to go), the extra sensors fitted will have a greater role to play. As it stands Tesla’s self-driving system has reined in its earlier excesses. You can no longer let go of the steering wheel and let the car get on with it; it’ll bong a warning much sooner these days.
The Model X isn’t as smooth and hushed on the road as the Audi e-tron, but this is still a fundamentally easy and relaxing car to drive for something so big.
Tesla Model X review: electric SUV driven in the UK
£89,680
Previous: Overview
Continue reading: Interior
Interior
What is it like on the inside?
There aren’t many options to choose from, but Tesla makes you pay dearly for the ones it does offer. As standard the Model X is a five-seater. A third row could be added for £3,400. Make sure you definitely need them. The downward curve of the tailgate limits headroom back there, although they do fold flat easily. If you want to ease access to them, you’re better off with the six-seat layout, which (again, when you could actually buy the Model X in the UK) replaced the three-seat middle bench with a pair of captain’s chairs. For £6,300.
But it’s huge inside. Total luggage volume is 2,487 litres, which puts it on a par with the Land Rover Discovery. The issue is the usability of that space. If you have the six-seat layout there’s precious little to stop kit in the boot sliding into the cabin. And although the falcon doors will never get boring, if the car is parked unevenly and the chassis twisted slightly or on a windy day, they occasionally refuse to operate.
Up front the cabin is dominated by two screens: the 17-incher in the dash, and the eight-footer that arcs back over your head. The windscreen is luxuriously (and distractingly) enormous. Tinted so sun glare isn’t an issue, and the sense of peripheral vision is great, but you also feel exposed underneath this see-through forehead. The dash screen? Well now everyone seems to be going to touchscreen, and this is the biggest and just about the best. As big as a road atlas, responsive and easy to use, though still requiring a lot of eyes-off-road time.
Beyond that the design is pretty basic, the materials less than premium and the seats slippery and unsupportive. It’s not a cabin you’re ever going to feel cosy in. It’s more like piloting a posh Transit. One kitted out with LED headlights, a 17-speaker stereo and heated seats and steering wheel.
Oh, and we should mention some of the Model X’s hidden party pieces. No doubt you’ll have seen ‘Celebration Mode’ doing its thing on YouTube, where the falcon doors perform their own showboating routine as loud music serenades your latest drag race win. Or more likely wows the occasional visitor on your driveway.
Meanwhile Sentry Mode is a bit more real-world useful. It employs the Model X’s various cameras to look out for ‘potential threats’ – thieves, influencers etcetera – while you’re away. Extra peace of mind if you park up in a dodgy area.
Previous: Driving
Continue reading: Buying
Buying
What should I be paying?
That’s the million dollar question. Tesla’s UK pricing is as changeable as the weather is here, but with the Model X currently not offered on these shores we can’t even offer you our best guess right now. You can still purchase one through the Tesla Inventory if you wish: at the time of writing a used version could cost you anything between £45k and nearly £90k.
You can still go through the process of ordering a new Model X too, with the options limited to the wheel size, colour choice, interior finish, number of seats and how clever you want your driving assistance tech to be. We asked Tesla when the Model X would be available again in the UK and it currently has no timeline for its return. Hmm.
Imagining that you do get your hands on a Model X, owning a Tesla is as little hassle as driving one. Have a home charger installed for a few hundred quid if you want the convenience and have off-street parking, but early buyers – if they’d bought the car from new – could do all their top ups for free at a Supercharger. We don’t yet no if this deal with return when the Model X does, though it seems unlikely.
If yours is second hand, home charging will be your cheapest way to top up, as even today’s crazy energy prices haven’t quite reached the 67p/kWh it’ll cost you to use a Supercharger. Still, building its own charging network in parallel with car sales was, of course, Tesla’s genius. The joy of being a company coming at things afresh and unburdened.
Just mind the claimed range. Tesla says all Model Xs will travel over 300 miles on a charge, but the reality is about 220-240 miles, and when we last tested one in cold, stormy weather, about 200 miles was the reality, at an average not much over two miles per kilowatt-hour.
When you stop to fill up, the latest Model X is capable of charging speeds of up to 250kW, which will have you on your way again in the time it takes to empty your bladder and then refill it with service station coffee. Just bear in mind that some older Superchargers can’t yet reach that peak rate, which may also suffer if a particular station or hub is busy. Imagine your extended family all streaming movies on your piddly wifi at Christmas. Yeah, it’s like that.
But we digress. On the whole the Model X does seem to use less electricity certainly than the Jaguar I-Pace, and betters the Audi e-tron mostly too. As we discovered when we tested all three together in Devon a few years back.
The old version of the Model X came with a healthy four-year, 50,000-mile warranty, with eight years cover for the drivetrain and battery. Meanwhile the £2,500 government grant has long since gone the way of the dodo, so there’s no more state incentive for your ultra-green choice of personal vehicle. Sorry.
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