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Meet Model X
- HorizonXP 11y agoIf I had a family, and disposable income, this would definitely be my vehicle of choice. That said, I liked this bit: "There are three modes: circulate with outside air, re-circulate inside air and a bioweapon defense mode that creates positive pressure inside the cabin to protect occupants." Funny regardless, but insane if true.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- Latty 11y agoSomeone just realized it would cost them little to implement this feature and it's a why-not that no one else has.
- dingaling 11y agoWarships and armoured vehicles have used internal overpressure since the 1950s, it's a basic aspect of NBC defence. And it was one of the reasons NATO warships were so sparsely equipped with portholes, no point having overpressure if Seaman Jones can leave a window open. Anyway, it really shows to me what a completely pointless vehicle this is. Yes it's a technical tour-de-force, but it does nothing to move EV adoption forward. The people buying it will primarily be existing Tesla or Cayenne Turbo owners, not lower-middle-class wage-commuters who produce our daily pollution. Only slightly more useful than car-show concept vehicles in that regard. If Tesla were to attack the low-end, where the majority of car sales occur, then I'd pay attention. But the proft margins are razor-thin there. Low-end being Fiesta / Polo territory, looks like we'll have to wait for the Chinese manufacturers to move in there.
- outworlder 11y ago> If Tesla were to attack the low-end, where the majority of car sales occur, then I'd pay attention. Then you are not paying attention. Tesla strategy is to start at the top, with higher margins and lower volumes (meaning lower costs) and gradually move down. According to Musk the Model 3 will be available next year and cost $35k.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoNot sure they can deliver. Their house-battery product was relatively cheap. But it was also ill-conceived and impractical. Largely because of capacity. It was more of a UPS than a house-power-plant, because of the extremely limited time it could run the whole house. Consider: a large fraction of the Tesla car cost is the battery and associated systems. There's a minimum range that's considered acceptable, and even their current models barely achieve that. Using smaller/cheaper batteries to make the car cheaper will violate the minimum-range requirement. No-win here, so far.
- outworlder 11y agoPerhaps, but both the Model S and the Model X are very heavy cars. I guess there are possible savings there.
- chillydawg 11y agoHow is that an SUV?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- redgrange 11y agoStationwagon Utility Vehicle?
- ghaff 11y agoThe SUV term has been steadily stretched to cover vehicles that are less and less designed for anything other than a paved road and have less and less storage space.
- TruthSHIFT 11y agoYeah... Doesn't the "X" imply that it's a crossover?
- pearjuice 11y agoNo, X implies that there are still possible form factors between a luxury sedan and an "SUV". T, U, V and W to be exact.
- VLM 11y agoSUV = obese car. This is an obese car, therefore its a SUV. There are snarkier ways, like a car is a vehicle where 75% of the seats are empty almost all the time, whereas a SUV is a vehicle where 85% of the seats are empty almost all the time, so the cutoff is around 80% usually empty. Slightly more seriously a SUV can be defined as a car that has a towing rating approved by the mfgr. I've never owned a car where the mfgr approves any towing weight at all, and I've never heard of a SUV that can't at least tow some minimal weight.
- di 11y ago> $132,000 for the P90D Signature and $142,000 for the P90D Founder edition [0] [0]: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/30/tesla-model-x-electric-suv-luanch-price/ http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/30/tesla-model-x-electric-su...
- threeseed 11y agoThat is pretty amazing pricing. Most premium families would be looking to the Land Rover Evoque ($41K), BMW X5 ($54K) etc But Tesla is pricing it not to compete with the baseline Porsche Cayenne ($58K) but around the Cayenne Turbo S level ($157K). I guess they aren't planning on building a lot of them.
- austenallred 11y agoI spend a lot of time in a little ski town near me (Park City) that is absolutely covered in Porsche Cayenne Turbos. It's the perfect SUV for your family + ski gear + showing off just a little bit that you're really wealthy. I have zero doubt the parking lots next to the ski slopes will be covered in Model X's in a couple of years.
- uptown 11y ago"It's the perfect SUV for your family + ski gear + showing off just a little bit that you're really wealthy." Gull-wing doors seem less than perfect for transporting ski gear.
- austenallred 11y agoYour ski gear goes on a rack on top of or behind the car, both in the Cayenne or in the Model X (http://www.teslamotors.com/tesla_theme/assets/img/modelx/section-allwheel.jpg http://www.teslamotors.com/tesla_theme/assets/img/modelx/sec...)
- uptown 11y agoWonder how rear-mounting compares to top-mounting for overall drag. Anyway, for most users, I imagine you're not driving around with ski gear on your car 99% of the time, so it's a reasonable design decision.
- mrfusion 11y agoWhat is the pricing? Also does anyone know what the gross weight is?
- DEinspanjer 11y agoOkay.. I'm a Model S owner and I love Tesla and I chuckled at the whole Insane mode and gave a bit of an amused snort at Ludicrous mode. This, however, really makes me wonder WTH is going on there: HEPA Air Filters "There are three modes: circulate with outside air, re-circulate inside air and a bioweapon defense mode that creates positive pressure inside the cabin to protect occupants." EDIT: Very fair points about driving by skunks or nasty smells. The naming is what gets me though. If it was called Noxious Smell Defense Mode or something, that would make perfect sense. Looking at Wikipedia, a "medical grade HEPA filter" can filter out 99.97% of particles at least 0.3 micrometers in diameter. Dunno if the Tesla filters are also using UV irradiation, and I also couldn't find any documentation of the particulate size of skunk odor, so it will be interesting to see documentation on what exactly it can filter out. EDIT2: Watched a bit of the intro event video. Looks like it has a specific set of activated charcoal filters for sulfur type particulates, so certainly seems like it could be a skunk odor killer. :)
- trishume 11y agoYah I found that a bit paranoid. Probably what happened though is that the system is controlled by a microcontroller and it took 3 minutes for some programmer to add that feature for fun, and then some marketer thought they would throw it in and make it real.
- chillydawg 11y agoExcept how is it generating positive internal pressure without storing compressed air somewhere?
- bendykstra 11y agoFans, which force air through the filters into the cabin.
- BYWallace 11y agoI believe it's because pumping filtered air from the outside faster than it can escape from the cabin creates the positive internal pressure.
- poopbutt 11y agoCool as this is, the only thing that sketches me out is the "automatic braking" feature. If I go to avoid something and it slams on the brakes, isn't that going to totally change my trajectory possibly causing an accident? Or a false positive causing heavy braking which someone could be surprised by and overcorrect for causing an accident?
- ctdonath 11y agoConsidering how many rear-end fender-benders I see on my daily commute, the benefits outweigh the risks.
- saturdaysaint 11y agoSame here. I've thought of these as incremental improvements on the way to the autonomous car, but it really will be interesting to see how traffic improves as these technologies see wider adoption over the next few years.
- irl_zebra 11y agoMy Volvo does this. Not sure if it's the same thing, but stops you if you're about to collide with something. I've never experienced it (as I've never yet needed the feature), but have heard good things. Here's a really impressive video of it in action on a semi-truck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ridS396W2BY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ridS396W2BY Counterpoint (with the model I have, unfortunately): http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/self-braking-volvo-fails-test-drive-slams-onlookers-article-1.2238171 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/self-braking-volvo-fai...
- Navarr 11y agoI wouldn't consider that a counterpoint. Article goes on to say that the system wasn't on that car and obviously these are supposed to be emergency measures, not relied on.
- curiousphil 11y agoVolvo claimed that the driver hadn't paid for the pedestrian detection upgrade which costs an extra $3,000. That said, it seems like a feature that shouldn't be confusing as to whether your car has it or not. But then again, its not a feature that non-professionals should be testing/showing off on living beings...
- hacker_9 11y agoSweet if I start saving now I'll be able to afford one in 10 years!
- bryanlarsen 11y agoAre there any advantages to the gullwing doors compared to sliding doors other than "sliding doors aren't cool"? They say "minivan style sliding doors open at most halfway", but there are plenty of minivan doors that open quite wide.
- ponyous 11y agoIf you watch the video he shows exactly this. Sliding doors take space.
- lenomad 11y agoIt should give more clearence for getting into the car; and better access to the third row
- bryanlarsen 11y agoLooking at the video, it's quite clear that accessing the third row of a full size minivan is quite a bit easier than accessing the third row of a Model X.
- carlob 11y agohttp://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/ee4d25fc09c13298fde2d68e881513fa/202724231/modex.gif http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/ee4d25fc09c13298fde2d6... I'm glad this is a car that Russ would like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJIAOosI6js https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJIAOosI6js
- thecrumb 11y agoIf it's an "SUV" where do I strap my kayak and bike? Mercedes did it better in 1955.
- enraged_camel 11y agoDuring the live event they showed some piece that's included and can easily be attached to the back of the vehicle.
- josefresco 11y agoIt can tow 5000 pounds - maybe stick the kayak on a small trailer? Or, if you can afford a Model X, buy a used Subaru just for your kayak.
- ghaff 11y agoTrailers are a real pain to deal with. A lot of SUVs really aren't but this is an extreme case. I find it a bit ridiculous to call a vehicle an "SUV" if you can't put a roof-rack on.
- josefresco 11y agoTesla should sell a (self parking) trailer especially made for the Model X, which contains an additional battery pack. *calls Elon
- coldpie 11y agoEh, SUVs are the new minivan and everyone knows it. If you really want to strap a kayak to the top, buy a car with a roof rack regardless of what it's called.
- throw7 11y agoI don't like the falcon doors for this reason... i rather have rails on top for rack attachments.
- ju-st 11y agoThe meaning of "SUV" has changed in the las years.
- bluedino 11y ago>> 5,000lb towing capacity Curious as to what happens to the range when you're towing a pair of jetskis.
- eljimmy 11y agoIt decreases. :)
- vermontdevil 11y agoJust enough from the garage to the boathouse probably. Seriously I can see the numbers going down to 150mi range. Just a guess.
- jws 11y agoI'd expect less than half. The drag of a pair of jet skis is going to be significantly more than the X itself. Perfect use for me though. I drive 500 miles then need to put a boat in the water. My available high efficiency cars can't do the last two miles with a boat, so sometimes I have to drive a full sized pickup truck instead.
- josefresco 11y agoFun fact: The MPG of my full size truck decreases by almost 50% when towing. So if the Tesla gets better than 50% of it's range while towing, I'll be impressed.
- jannotti 11y agoIt might, since I think moving heavy objects is pure drag on a ICE vehicle, but if you have regenerative braking, you get some of the extra effort you put in, back out. That's an advantage many subways have by using electrical power.
- czinck 11y agoIs your truck gas, or are you towing way more than 5000 lbs? My guess is it would get better than 50% of its range because while you're (practically) doubling the weight, that doesn't matter because of the regenerative braking. Electric cars spend most of their energy fighting drag (as evidenced by people taking a model S almost 600 miles on one charge at 20 mph) and a 5000 lb trailer probably won't double the drag profile.
- modello_equis 11y agoPretty cool station wagon.
- plg 11y agoprice? what is the price? how come they don't have the price on the web page? is it secret? is it "if you have to ask ..."?
- Aqueous 11y agoNow those are the doors of a billionaire.
- ashwn 11y agohow tall/wide does your garage have to be?
- snogglethorpe 11y agoThat's the thing that first came to mind when I saw the pics of those doors opening... sure they look cool, and probably work ok if you're outside away from anything, but seems like there are plenty of situations in which they just wouldn't have the space to open enough to allow exiting (at least without crawling on the ground). Examples might be a small garage or a parking space hemmed in by other vehicles. Sliding doors take almost no extra space to open fully, and even normal swing doors can be used when partially open (the exact degree of course depends on how skinny you are...).
- tcskeptic 11y agoDid you watch the unveiling event? It is a dual hinged door and can do some pretty trick stuff with ultrasonic sensors to alter hinge and lift angles to open in pretty tight spots.
- dangrossman 11y agoThe video shows it opening when parked so closely to two vehicles that a person can barely squeeze through, and when parked in a garage with a low ceiling. One of the cars they parked it next to is a minivan with sliding doors, which you couldn't get into when open, while you could get into the X. As Elon puts it, paraphrasing, "this is the best aperture possible".
- mixedbit 11y agoSeven seats car seems to address a very small niche.
- giarc 11y agoMost SUVs are seven seaters. Even most minivan's are now 7 seater.
- ghaff 11y ago"Most" is a bit of an overstatement. (Fortunately) many SUVs still don't have third-row seating. To be honest, I find the shift from minivans--which do a much better job of seating a bunch of people--to SUVs that consume a lot of interior space with seats a bit unfortunate.
- giarc 11y ago"Most" as in the direct competition to the Model X. Yes, some manufacturers have large 8 seaters (Yukon, QX56, Pilot, Sequoia) but those are all massive vehicles and I don't think the Model X is competing with those. I think the competition is the smaller SUVs such as the Q7, SRX, MDX,GX, X5, GL550, and XC90, all of which are 7 seaters.
- cpwright 11y agoThe pilot is pretty popular as an 8 seater. It's rear seats fold flat giving you a reasonable cargo area when you don't have the 3 people in the third row. The seats themselves aren't very cramped, but getting in/out is not great.
- giarc 11y agoI'm not sure many Pilot buyers will also be Model X buyers ($30K vs $100K)
- cpwright 11y agoThe $30K vs. $100K isn't the real comparison though. The pilot starts at $30K, but goes to $48K. The MDX is only 7 seats, but is also basically a Pilot for $58K. A Model X should come in around $80K, assuming it is just a bit more than a comparable Model S, which starts at $70K. I think one of the things the Model S has done is get someone who might spend $50K on a car to spend quite a bit more than otherwise, because of its coolness factor. I think the Model X will do the same thing, and get people who would otherwise drive something less expensive (in the $50-60K range) to reach upwards to $80K or so because of the cool/wow factor. I've got a Pilot now; and like it. I need to see the X in person. Right now the falcon wing doors are not a selling point for me and lack of rear-seat entertainment system make it less compelling than it otherwise might be for the money.
- leephillips 11y ago"Model X is the safest, fastest and most capable sport utility vehicle in history." From any other company I would roll my eyes at the ridiculous hyperbole. Here, it's probably just a statement of fact.
- dagw 11y agoSafest and fastest seem possible, but I'm rather doubting its off road capabilities. Unless of course being capable of driving off road isn't something we expect from an SUV these days.
- threeseed 11y agoYou can tell from the photos you won't be taking this off road. It's more akin to a people mover with the 7 seat option and the ground clearance being limited. If you look at the most popular SUVs i.e. BMW X3/5, Mercedes M, Land Rover they have a lineage in proper 4WDs. But let's be honest almost nobody who drives an SUV actually takes it off road.
- nmrm2 11y agoRight. SUVs in this category are going after the need-a-van-but-want-a-sportcar market.
- bengoodger 11y agoThe irony is that a van will often handle better than a SUV with a car based platform and a lower center of gravity. My wife has a BMW X5 and it drives like a piece of industrial farm equipment. We also own a Honda Odyssey which IMO handles significantly better - it's basically an Accord with a taller roof.
- dublinben 11y agoThe current X3, X5, and M-Class are all built on unibody car platforms. Only the Range Rover models have a remotely "proper" lineage in 4WD vehicles.
- philwelch 11y agoI guess Tesla isn't going to get around to making a car that normal people can afford anytime soon, then.
- irishloop 11y agoaudience explodes into cheers
- typon 11y agoThey already announced it. It's called the Model 3. From Elon Musk's Twitter: @elonmusk $35k price, unveil in March, preorders start then.
- philwelch 11y ago35k is not something normal people can afford.
- bluthru 11y agoThe average new car price is $33,560: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/05/04/new-car-transaction-price-3-kbb-kelley-blue-book/26690191/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/05/04/new-car-... $35,000 should be a pretty great deal for an above-average car that uses inexpensive fuel and requires little maintenance.
- philwelch 11y agoNormal people don't all buy new cars, and they don't buy the average new car. They either buy used or they buy an entry-level new car, say in the 25k range at most. You can get a freaking Audi for 35k. Audis are not entry-level cars for normal people, they are luxury cars.
- mikestew 11y agoIt better be something normal people can afford, because that's about the average price these days. Then again, you haven't defined "normal".
- unfamiliar 11y agoThose jeering idiots in the audience are so cringe-y. There is no need to cheer at literally everything Musk says. For example, showing you can get into the car is something I would expect.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- eljimmy 11y agoI wish I hadn't read your comment before watching the video, I could not stop noticing it. >_<
- MichaelGG 11y agoFunniest part was when he talks about creating a new ultrasonic sensor that works through metal -- silence. You can see Elon sorta motion as in "hey... this was a bigger accomplishment than the seat design" but no one really catches on. Reminds me of the Apple launch event for ApplePay where the presenter showed the current "bad" way of paying with cards. The crowd went wild and he sorta looked at them like "uh, that was the bad scenario... don't clap."
- unfamiliar 11y agoI think the people were clapping because they agreed that it was an annoying way to pay. https://youtu.be/0pmwR1SrK-Q?t=2648 https://youtu.be/0pmwR1SrK-Q?t=2648
- FilterSweep 11y agoSo with the falcon wing doors you couldn't open up passenger seats in your standard garage. I'd suspect people who could afford this wouldn't have a standard garage anyways though.
- ygra 11y agoA standard garage seems to have quite a bit over two meters in height, which should be enough to open the doors. They also have sensors and adapt both hinges to obstacles next to and above the car.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- lenomad 11y agoMusk actually demoes it opening in a low-height garage. It has two hinges for the door that lets it open at less height.
- coldpie 11y agoThis is one of those things where if what you said is true, then the engineers would be brain-dead morons. I suspect it's more likely that it does work in most standard garages, than Tesla's engineers have never thought to try it in a standard garage.
- bluedino 11y agoLet's say you take your AWD SUV up to your cottage in the mountains, or to a ski resort, and you've got 6" of snow on top of your car. What happens when you open the doors?
- amaranth 11y agoYou clear the snow off before opening the back doors. You should be clearing it off before you drive anyway so it's not much of a difference.
- akgoel 11y ago
- 746F7475 11y agoMan, this looks awesome as fuck, if only I had money for something like this
- caio1982 11y agoI love the falcon wing doors but what about when it's raining? That might be a stupid question but...
- shogun21 11y agoExactly what I was thinking. When it's raining, I want to get in and out as quickly as possible. Not wait for the door to go through an entire opening sequence.
- enraged_camel 11y agoThe car detects when someone is approaching, and which door they are approaching towards, and starts opening it in advance. I'm sure you'll be fine.
- anon4 11y agoalso what about when someone parks too close to you? Malls, for instance, put parking spaces tightly next to each other, so either you park like an asshole diagonally across two of them, or run the risk of someone else parking just a little bit too close to you and then your doors can't open, whereas in a standard vehicle, you'd be able to squeeze in. They should have made them slide laterally like on a minivan.
- caio1982 11y agoIf you watch the presentation (or look for some .gifs around) you'll see they parked some of them pretty close to each other and the doors opened just fine. I think that's a minor issue given you can "flood" your car during a severe rain :-)
- myth_buster 11y agoThe site says the minimum distance required is about a foot which is reasonable given that the protruding rear view mirrors would be close to half of that.
- 11y ago
- 6stringmerc 11y agoI can't wait to see how well they do in the Paris-Dakar Rally, because of course they'll back up all their hype by going out and handily beating the competition, just like the Tesla Model S completely dominated Touring Car racing and showed the GT class at Le Mans what innovation is all about. /s
- skoocda 11y agoNot exactly the intended use case, though, is it? Do you expect your mother to play NFL football? No? Not everything is built to compete.
- 6stringmerc 11y agoWhat I'm talking about is the long-running automotive tradition - a useful one - of subjecting an automobile to competition by which to identify weaknesses, opportunities for improvement, and publicly showing that the vehicle is capable of rising above every-day use scenarios through its engineering prowess. Using your logic, why is Aston Martin in GT / ALMS racing? Why is Mercedes Benz in F1 racing? Why is Volkswagen in off-road racing? The list goes on and on and on. The only time Tesla has gotten to a podium is because Elon Musk paid for it to be there for the press. I suppose it makes sense not to take Tesla endurance racing, because it'd be embarassing.
- filvdg 11y agoI thought SUV's had larger rims than standard cars, they look the same as the model S , Any information available?
- pconner 11y agoThe Model S already has unusually large wheels for a sedan
- chuckcode 11y agoAll it takes is a billionaire genius with twin kids and a car company to finally engineer a real solution to the hassle of having room to put kids in the car seats. I sure hope some of these ideas come in a slightly more affordable version. Amazing how many of the innovations are just everyday things like crash safety, air quality, blind holster your phone, trailer hitch that doesn't suck, and easier to get kids in their car seats - yet they have me drooling as even after 100+ years of mass auto production there are so many daily frustrations with cars.
- josefresco 11y agoIn all seriousness, how does the Model X improve buckling your kids over a sliding minivan door? Never had trouble with this, I've owned a car, truck, SUV and minivan with young kids. Biggest headache? The kids buckling themselves. The seatbelt always locks (they pull too fast), the buckles get smushed into the seat bench, and before you know it I have exited the car, just to help them put it altogether.
- declan 11y agoYep. I love the performance of Tesla's cars, but a humble minivan already has (far less attractive) sliding doors with very large openings. To be fair to Tesla, Elon Musk did address this around two-thirds of the way through his presentation yesterday, saying "when the minivan door is open I can't even get through that space." I suspect he'd also say the Model X's doors provide a vertical opening in addition to a side opening, which can be useful for adults in the second or third row. On the other hand, I've driven a Honda minivan quite a bit and I can't think of any times when I couldn't squeeze through the available space when the minivan door was open in a parking lot. So there is a bit of solving a problem that may not be very much of one.
- kelvie 11y agoThe Model S (and presumably the X, at it uses the same wheelbase) is a _very_ wide car, wider than most minivans, so I suspect your Honda minivan is just narrower and won't run into this problem as much as those that drive the model X (or the S drivers today)
- pookeh 11y agoI don't think I can open those falcon doors when parked inside my garage. Which is a pity because it is damn cold in Canada half the year.
- dangrossman 11y agoThe doors actuate on two hinges and have sonar to detect both horizontal and vertical clearance during all movements. They will adapt to both low ceilings and low side clearances, and need only about a foot of space on either side of your car to open. In the video, Musk talks about garages with small ceilings and then shows a video of the doors opening in one. If there's enough space for you to pull in and get out of your car now, there's almost surely enough space to open the doors in this one too.
- dexterdog 11y agoI wonder how they adapt to having snow on the roof.
- chrisBob 11y agoIf there is too much snow on the roof to use the falcon doors then you should have the driver get in up front, push on the accelerator for 4 seconds and then push on the brake. Now you can circle back and get the kids.
- matthewowen 11y agoAre you driving your car with a large mass of snow on the roof? Please don't, it's dangerous.
- dexterdog 11y agoI don't, but I see many people who do.
- smrtinsert 11y agoDoors that open like THIS - not like this!
- LeonM 11y agoI see what you did there ;)
- cpr 11y agoGreat, bioweapon defense mode so the Masters of the Universe can all hop in their cars and safely leave a big city under bioweapons attack, while the rest of us lie gasping on the sidewalk...
- tajen 11y agoOr leave the Teheran ambassy in 1975 even under tear gas.
- Taek 11y agoBioweapon defense mode in luxury vehicles is the first step towards bioweapon defense mode in commodity vehicles. Also, it's really for polluted cities, skunks, and driving past freshly fertilized farms. I don't think anyone expects to active bwdm for an actual bioweapon threat.
- hmate9 11y agoThe 'bioweapon defense mode' is great naming. Gets fantastic PR and consumers know that Tesla's air is market leader. When was the last time that a car's air filtering for so much good PR and became a unique selling point?
- doczoidberg 11y agoCan anyone explain me why Tesla as a silicon valley company is lagging behind in autonomus driving? BMW, Daimler and many more have already working things in much cheaper cars. Edit: can't understand the down voting. Criticizing Tesla isn't endorsed here?
- eclipxe 11y agoExplain how they're lagging? They have v7 of the software in beta testers hands and the auto pilot features are a step above all other manufacturers.
- doczoidberg 11y agoAs i mentioned there are many car makers which have these things since years. And they are much cheaper. Just look at the websites what you can buy from BMW, Daimler etc.
- outworlder 11y agoBecause they also have cars for much longer too? Tesla had (and has) to solve a difficult problem. The manufacturers you mention are all using standard internal combustion engines. Is it surprising that the can focus their attention elsewhere?
- doczoidberg 11y agoI think autonomous driving is first priority for Tesla. So I wonder.
- ohitsdom 11y agoMaking a good electric car is a HUGE challenge (see: the entire history of electric cars pre-Tesla). They need to keep their focus there. Once Tesla is delivering on the affordable mass market Model 3, then I think they'll turn up their focus on self-driving.
- kemiller 11y agoI look at all the little motors in those doors, and other robotic gadgets, and just see reliability issues. Their 8-year warranty on the drivetrain is great, but you are still stuck if the rest of the car doesn't work. I guess it's a fact of life now that cars, especially high-end cars, are not really built for more than two lease-lengths now. So how much embodied energy does that represent? Has anyone seen a full-lifecycle analysis of Tesla cars? Probably no worse than other luxury cars, but still.
- codeulike 11y agoRest of the car has a 4 year warranty that can be extended to 8 years (at least thats how it works on the Model S)
- doczoidberg 11y agoRoughly estimated carbon production of manufacturing (I got these numbers from a german discussion, one source for battery carbon production is: http://www.focus.de/auto/experten/duennes/oekobilanz-von-elektroautos-besser-als-benzin-oder-oekologisches-feigenblatt-so-sauber-ist-ein-elektroauto-wirklich_id_4914399.html http://www.focus.de/auto/experten/duennes/oekobilanz-von-ele... ): ------------------------------------------ VW Polo GTI: 2 tons BMW M5: 2,5 tons BMW I3: 4 tons Tesla Modell X 13 tons Manufacturing + 100.000km: -------------------------- BMW I3 -> 9,6 tons VW Polo GTI -> 18,6 tons Tesla Modell X -> 25,3 tons BMW M5 -> 26,3 tons Tesla isn't as green as many think. Building heavy cars isn't the solution. Also the new infrastructure for superchargers does raise carbon production.
- Shivetya 11y agobuilding heavy cars is the only solution when battery tech doesn't allow for light weight batteries. We are at what, four to five pounds of battery for each mile driven? That isn't exactly a great number.
- jedberg 11y agoIt's not fair to compare the Model X to a Sedan. Do you have numbers for other SUVs? Remember the idea here is that it's assumed you'll be buying a car already. Also, even if the total lifetime carbon was equal, it's still better to buy a vehicle that produces all that carbon in localized places where it could possibly be captured instead of all over crowded urban areas.
- doczoidberg 11y agoI just want to mention some facts. EVs are interesting and the future for sure but thinking EVs are the holy grail is just stupid. http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/hold-smugness-tesla-might-just-worse-environment-know/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/hold-smugness-tesla-might-... How do you can capture carbon?
- jobead 11y agoI think what jedberg meant was that if you are producing the electricity at a centralized place (like even a coal-fired power plant) you could theoretically capture carbon using massive scrubbers on the exhaust towers. Developing similar technology and installing it in all of the individual gas-burning cars would be near impossible. My 2c: The real "secret plan" here is that converting us to electric vehicles paves the way to develop (and creates structural demand for) 0-emission ways to recharge them, like: - resurgence of large nuclear plants - self-contained micro-nuclear reactors that you could bury in your yard - solar on your garage (paired with a Tesla Powerwall to recharge your car at night)
- wehadfun 11y agoshutupandtakemymoney
- kelvin0 11y agoTony Stark strikes again! Worth noting that no emission 'issues' are expected ...
- alexnaicu 11y agofugly
- deanCommie 11y agoWhat happened at the start of the presentation when Musk was just about to start talking about safety features when suddenly, quietly, and slowly, a Model X drove up onto the stage. A random guy stepped out, left the door open, and handed Musk the keys. Musk: "..Right, so about those safety features." Did the guy go up to early? Or was he late? Or was that planned? So confused...
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- frandroid 11y agoGull-wing doors!!
- aerovistae 11y agoI'm mostly wondering if you can open the falcon doors by hand or if it has to be done by computer. Seems kind of slow to me. Not to mention emergency situations.
- brianstorms 11y agoModel S owner here. Love the new X but two things disappoint, in terms of design: the new front-end is ugly, especially the white version of the car. And the long straight wire that runs from the top of the car to the auto-pilot hardware and rear-view mirror, planted in the middle of the windshield's sea of glass, is hideous. I can't believe Elon let that slide. Jobs would never in a million years have allowed that stupid wire to obstruct the view. Worst case, hair-thin electric conductors embedded in the glass, something. But that wire's got to go.
- linkydinkandyou 11y agoNow _everyone_ will have gull-wing doors.
- vasilipupkin 11y agoI am confused by the fancy doors. The driver door seems to open as usual, no? Doesn't that mean that in a tight space I am no better off than with a regular door ?
- kirk21 11y agoReally like the car. Just a tad concerned that the huge front window will break/shatter a lot if you hit some debree (or there is just a lot of junk on the roads where I live).
- rsync 11y agoThe first thing I notice is the seats. The same very, very unadjustable, very sparse seats that the model S has. I won't provide reference [1][2][3]'s here, but there are absolutely much, much better seats with many more adjustments available in the lower end 3 series / A4 / C class cars ... and this is a car with a 6 figure price tag. The seats. I have never understood the seats in the model S (and now X). edit: OK, so another thing ... the stick-on spoiler has always annoyed me on the model S. Very cheap and lame. I see that the new Model X has a retractable spoiler ... when will that arrive on the Model S ?