3 Children in the rear of a Model S?

[Okrib]

Hello all - long time lurker, first time poster and hoping I can get some good advice from those much more experienced than me...

We're going to lease a Tesla through our business after a long campaign which my wife has eventually acquiesced to. I'm deciding between the Model S and the Model X. My wife will go for either an E-Tron or the Mercedes EQC (assuming the car seats fit).

Charging isn't a problem. We'll install a charger at our warehouse and have a drive at home.

My main issue relates to parking space on our drive and fitting in car seats for children.

We have 3 kids (age 3, 5 and 7) which would normally steer me towards the Model X. However, our drive is only 235cm wide, with the side of the house on one side and a dividing fence on the other. At the moment I park as close as possible to the side of the house and can get the kids in and out easily of our Grand C4 Picasso. I'm going to do a test drive of the X as I'm thinking I could unload the kids while partially parked - meaning the side of the house is not in the way - and then complete parking. Not ideal, but potentially workable.

The alternative is the Model S, which is narrower so in theory should be able to fit on the drive and afford access / egress for the kids. The problem with this is fitting 3 car seats in the back. I've had a look inside and it seems like a tight fit due to the design of the seats. So if I did this, are there any car seats that can be recommended which fit 3 across?

To complicate matters, I prefer the design of the Model X, but the sheer width of it worries me. I also like the longer range of the S and the faster acceleration.

Decisions, decisions! I'm guessing the solution will be to test drive both of them and try to load the car seats in the S properly, and see if the X fits on the drive.

If anyone has experience of 3 kids and car seats in the S I would love to hear it!

 

[Rooster6655]

Well the door clearance in the X should be of benefit in this situation, I suggest perhaps renting one and see if it works for you

 

[juliusa]

Or take a test drive and bring it to your house...

 

[Okrib]

Well the door clearance in the X should be of benefit in this situation, I suggest perhaps renting one and see if it works for you

Yep - will arrange the test drive and see if it fits in. Annoyingly where I am in London there are a lot of width restrictors so there would be some roads I can't go down in an X but that's a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things...

 

[evGuesty]

One option is to get a multimac not cheap but they resell on eBay really well. I have one in my Model 3 for my 7 year only and 5 year old twins and they love it.

Super club

pic from the Multimac website (model 3)

 

[gangzoom]

I think you might be surprised at how well the doors work on the X. When we visit the inlaws this is the amount of space spare to park, barely enough to squeeze out of the front doors.

However as long as you have no height restrictions the FWDs can open fully!! Makes loading kids, adults, anything into the back much easier than any conventional door in the same space.

 

[Okrib]

Thanks all - waiting for a test drive on the X which obviously is a bit difficult to arrange at the moment... I will report back.

I've contacted a few lease companies already, I'm guessing they will all be much of a muchness in terms of pricing?

 

[Okrib]

The Multimac is interesting, I was already aware of it and obviously the Model 3 is significantly cheaper. Does it make any difference to insurance as I'm sure they would class it as an alteration?

Still waiting for my test drive, but I'm leaning towards the X if I can get it on my drive and open the doors - kind of a vital point!

 

[BM3B]

The multimac is narrow and a good option. I was able to get a baby seat in the middle and two booster seats on the side. Works well and costs a lot less. See attached photo. I am using two rigid seatbelt extenders.