Autoblog Model X Review

[tenstringer009]

Looks like Randy shared his Model X to the Autoblog guys as well...

Tesla Model X P90D First Drive

Similar to the EverydayDriver review, the reviewer did question the necessity of the falcon-wing doors, and it was interesting to hear that Tesla proactively replaced the door actuators as well. Finally, the reference to the Model X being a 'rare steak' is pretty accurate in my mind based on what I've heard:

'Some people will be totally happy with a bit of blood when they slice in to their hunk of meat. Others will want everything cooked through. They will want a car that's "done," in other words. When you're dealing with clientele that can afford to pay over $100,000 for their car - maybe sometimes for their fifth Tesla - you can be pretty sure they'll stay with you through thick and thin. They don't need to wait for the meal to be totally cooked to eat it. They're hungry now.'

 

[ModelS1079]

Nice work, Randy.
Taking one for the team.
(Giving one for the team?)

 

[Electric700]

Looks like Randy shared his Model X to the Autoblog guys as well...

Similar to the EverydayDriver review, the reviewer did question the necessity of the falcon-wing doors, and it was interesting to hear that Tesla proactively replaced the door actuators as well. Finally, the reference to the Model X being a 'rare steak' is pretty accurate in my mind based on what I've heard:

...

Great review, and I really like the falcon wing doors since having tried them out, I found them to be very useful. Just one example, after sitting in the back seat I was easily able to stand up and walk out of the Model X. If there were an alternative system such as sliding doors, that would have not been possible for me to do. This is just the first generation of Tesla falcon wing doors and I think we will definitely see them get better over time.

 

[Vitold]

Nice photo of X:

2016 Tesla Model X: First Drive Photo Gallery - Autoblog

 

[techmaven]

We are seeing a bunch of reviews that question the falcon wing doors and why Tesla felt the need for them. Some ponder why not "normal" doors or sliding doors. However, I think most people really haven't understood that the #1 design requirement for the Model X has to do with aerodynamics in order to achieve range. If you follow the roofline and the curvature of the rear glass, you can see the challenges of maintaining the 0.24 drag coefficient while creating a very large opening to access the 3rd row. The roof line drops dramatically in the Model X to achieve such an amazing drag coefficient for such a vehicle. That means the height of the rear portion of the 2nd row doors is far lower than other vehicles that don't have such aerodynamics. Minivans, SUVs, and CUVs typically are very boxy which means what they can do after the b pillar is very different than the design challenges for the Model X.

Looking at the height at the rear of the falcon wing door opening, if that were a conventional door opening, getting into the 3rd row would be very difficult. It's hard enough as it is with the falcon wing doors. Most others that have conventional doors are not 7 seaters and if they are, examine what it takes to get to the 3rd row. Examine where the height of the roof would be as you enter the 3rd row. Imagine where your head is getting into the 3rd row of a BMW X5 7 seater which is much boxier versus the Model X. In a Model S, you don't access the 3rd row in this manner. I don't think conventional doors would be viable for reasonable access for adults into the 3rd row.

As for sliding doors, well, they need one or more tracks to operate. Where would you put the tracks on a Model X? and look at how far back the rear of the door is already and how much length there would be for a track. For example, the new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica has a class leading aerodynamics (their claim) with a drag coefficient of 0.30. Add to that a much larger frontal area, and we're talking dramatically reduced range if it were a pure BEV. Look at the sliding door mechanism... it's along the bottom and top of doors. Now, translate that to a Model X. How would you be able to create a straight horizontal track with the slope of the Model X's roof? If you did it at the waist line, how would track operate? There isn't that much length from edge of the rear door to the rear light.

I think the falcon wing doors are not merely a party trick as implied by several of these reviews. Instead, they are a challenging engineering answer to building a 7 seat, 3 row BEV SUV/CUV that has 200+ miles of range. I think that if Tesla had other choices, they would have done it, but they didn't have other choices if they wanted to maintain the range and accessibility of the current design of the Model X. We'll see when the Audi SUV e-tron finally ships as to what range they could achieve with what utility. Thus far, the preliminary specs are for 95 kWh of battery for the same NEDC range as a Model X, but with only 4 seats and two rows.

 

[Vitold]

We are seeing a bunch of reviews that question the falcon wing doors and why Tesla felt the need for them. Some ponder why not "normal" doors or sliding doors. However, I think most people really haven't understood that the #1 design requirement for the Model X has to do with aerodynamics in order to achieve range. If you follow the roofline and the curvature of the rear glass, you can see the challenges of maintaining the 0.24 drag coefficient while creating a very large opening to access the 3rd row. The roof line drops dramatically in the Model X to achieve such an amazing drag coefficient for such a vehicle. That means the height of the rear portion of the 2nd row doors is far lower than other vehicles that don't have such aerodynamics. Minivans, SUVs, and CUVs typically are very boxy which means what they can do after the b pillar is very different than the design challenges for the Model X.

Looking at the height at the rear of the falcon wing door opening, if that were a conventional door opening, getting into the 3rd row would be very difficult. It's hard enough as it is with the falcon wing doors. Most others that have conventional doors are not 7 seaters and if they are, examine what it takes to get to the 3rd row. Examine where the height of the roof would be as you enter the 3rd row. Imagine where your head is getting into the 3rd row of a BMW X5 7 seater which is much boxier versus the Model X. In a Model S, you don't access the 3rd row in this manner. I don't think conventional doors would be viable for reasonable access for adults into the 3rd row.

I agree with your points. However, I think that Tesla could have designed the SUV with regular hinged doors and have side of the roof slide open, similar to sunroof, only on sides, if they wanted better clearance. Such design would offer more flexibility. For example, you could leave roof part closed if you had a lot of snow/ice or didn't want cold or heat escape the cabin.

With that said, falcon doors are spectacular which brings another reason for having FWd which is free marketing.