Spread Your Wings
TESLA MODEL X
by Max Gonzaga
Save and Send. It’s too late to go back and change my piece for this month – and I am expecting trouble on the way (or maybe not) when the boss will read that I madly love the Model X, mainly for its rear doors, baptized “falcon wings doors”. Wait, it’s not only for that, but also because you can’t feel deep pleasure in front of an SUV, or CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle), of almost two and a half tons, which has a driving mode called “Ludicrous”, right? No name has been more appropriate than that, because once selected, and throwing to the bushes your autonomy range left, you will blast this living room on stilts from 0 to 100 in just 3.4 seconds.
It’s madness, a balanced madness that revolves around the ECO-love understatement of an electric car, equipped with two motors that power the front axle (with 259hp) and the rear one (with 503hp), producing a total output of 762 horses. Yes, we talk about horses referring to an electric motor – it’s not right, but this makes a better idea, of what this thing is capable of. Dimensions are considerable, both for height, width and length, and the Model X can accommodate five people, offering the driver and front passenger two-door in the classic sense of the term, while the rear seat occupants will play with a new mechanism, designed especially by Tesla to make this model very special and not going unnoticed in the flood of proposals to which the market puts us every day. And then that huge touch display from which you control every single point of your new hyper big toy, from the radio to the satellite navigator, via the air conditioning and the height of the suspension, which instead of getting lost in high-sounding nicknames it comes with – very low, low, standard, high and very high. More clearly than that, nothing. Finally, selecting the “Ludicrous” mode, you get full power, well energy, generated by the two electric motors. The luggage space is not lacking, but be careful to plan trips out of town too, since not every city or car park is equipped with charging stations – despite Tesla is very active in the area and allow different solutions. The average range for the most powerful P90D is almost 500km, not bad if you think of an everyday use, not having to constantly keeping an eye on the battery indicator, even in case you are forced to deviate from the classic home-work route .
And it goes on to praise the clean lines, very close to those of the Model S sedan, the lack of buttons on the console, or the properly ridiculous performance, considering size, weight and type of power. The hiss and rustle of the wind will be your faithful companions, and you will forget gas stations and boring things like that. But why this Model X is so special? For everything, actually. But what brings it in the spotlight are those peculiarities that make it unique, those for which – or you buy a Model X, or you do not have the chance to play with that gizmos. And I mean the touch screen display, but above all on the rear doors, which although they’re not free from flaws, will surprise you and will leave curious passers mouth-opened, when spreading like true falcon wings, with the car parked through the others , will require the same maneuver of that of two conventional doors. So here we come to the delicate price argument. While the less powerful Model X, the 75D, starts at about € 98,000 and we exceed € 110,000 with the 90D, to bring in the garage the P90D, you need to put in the basket at least € 134,000. No small feat considering that with the same amount of money, you will have a wide selection of all of its competition, also including Range Rovers and Porsches. But the Model X is something that feels uncomfortable in every category, it is that bit of madness that the EV scene would never have thought to embrace. It has supersports performance, it runs as your blender and excites more than a Lamborghini. And then those doors – that make you want to open and close ‘em, just to see the whole engineering and the technical effort (and cost, during the design phase) that the Tesla guys have put at your disposal. Where? In the ideal car that will bring you to the office.
TESLA MODEL X P90D (2016-)
Layout – 2 electric motors, all-wheel-drive
Engine – 259hp front / 503hp rear
Transmission – single ratio transmission
Power – 762 hp
Weight – 2440 kg
Acceleration – 3,4 sec.
Top Speed – 250 kph
Price – from 134.500 €
Electric range – 467 km ca.