We have a 2 year old and a newborn on the way. One of the attractions of the X is how easy it is to get car seats and kids in and out (versus traditional SUV doors). How many do you typically have in your car and what are their ages? What about the X is good for younger kids and bad for younger kids? (I am not worried about the "messy" factor). Any help / experience is appreciated about trunk space, mileage, safety, convenience, etc.... when it comes to the X and having kids in it.
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Is Model X good for 2 young kids?
- Thread starter liszi
- Start date
I wouldn’t say this car is any better for kids versus a traditional SUV ..better for parents loading kids ? Definitely ....safety is on par if not better than other SUVs ...if not using the third row ..there is enough space for strollers etc ....range depends on needs and driving patterns ...if shuttling around town and not going more than 140miles a day the 75 battery will work fine ..tagging @Anzir as he has experience with the kids seats 
...good luck on search and hopefully you will be driving a Tesla soon
...good luck on search and hopefully you will be driving a Tesla soon 
Leopold Stotch
Member
Well in the chance you care about the messy factor even a little.... we have the captains chairs for second row and wow. Super easy to clean. No centre console. Super roomy and we can keep ours in awesome shape! It’s just an amazing car. No driveshaft going under car so floor is flat and chairs are on single mount so vacuuming is a breeze. Highly recommend it!
I love it. It's my EV minivan. I have a 3 and a 5 year old. My son, at 5, just got into a highback booster using the seatbelt. My daughter is still in a full 5 point harness, but has finally moved to be forward facing. They both occupy the 2nd row, though both of the carseats could be installed into the third row in a pinch. I normally drive with one 3rd row seat down and one up. That gives me tons of space. I have an organizer and multiple popup crates to store random items when necessary.
Taking carseats in and out is a breeze. I can stand up in the car to maximize my leverage in the 2nd row. The 3rd row is not as comfortable, since you have to bend down to gain a lot of leverage. I found the third row sucked for a latch system, but for a highback booster it's fast. You mentioned you have two small kids. If you're using a rear-facing carseat, you'll be hard-pressed to get anything to fit back there. I think someone mentioned one particular seat that fits, but other than that, you're forced to put them in the 2nd row.
With two small kids, I'd strongly consider a 7 seater, mainly because the bench seat is huge and has plenty of room. The bench is fairly flat and can hold car seats more easily than my 2nd row captain's chairs. The captain's chairs are honestly fine for latch systems, but the highback booster doesn't sit the best there. It is safe, but the seatbelt gets caught on the base because the base is so large.
As far as an SUV goes, the X is the safest thing out there. It has an extremely low center of gravity.
The biggest feature I'd say that's a big win for someone w/ babies and small toddlers, is the ability to leave the AC on in the car while they are sleeping. My kids always fall asleep in the car and I have never been able to leave them be in previous cars. I pulled into home and then had to shut off the engine or risk carbon monoxide filling up the garage. I see you're in Austin as well. The garage would get too hot for the kids. With the X, I just leave climate on and drop it to a nice 68 degrees and leave it on until they wake up from their nap. I normally don't leave them unattended for more than 5 minutes or so, but I will grab something to do and be comfortable in the car while they nap. That is worth its weight in gold. Why the heck would you wake a sleeping kid!
Mileage ... sucks compared to an ICE vehicle. But if you only drive around town, it's not a big deal at all. Just plug in overnight and you have a full tank of "gas" in the morning. City of Austin has a great subsidized electric plan with chargepoint as well. $50/yr for unlimited charging at any chargepoint location within the city. They also have good parking locations. You could park at the domain in multiple garages and charge up on the first floor. There's a bunch downtown as well, though I avoid that area like the plague.
Feel free to post more questions. Since I live in the same area as you, I could probably give you more specific examples of something you could relate to.
Taking carseats in and out is a breeze. I can stand up in the car to maximize my leverage in the 2nd row. The 3rd row is not as comfortable, since you have to bend down to gain a lot of leverage. I found the third row sucked for a latch system, but for a highback booster it's fast. You mentioned you have two small kids. If you're using a rear-facing carseat, you'll be hard-pressed to get anything to fit back there. I think someone mentioned one particular seat that fits, but other than that, you're forced to put them in the 2nd row.
With two small kids, I'd strongly consider a 7 seater, mainly because the bench seat is huge and has plenty of room. The bench is fairly flat and can hold car seats more easily than my 2nd row captain's chairs. The captain's chairs are honestly fine for latch systems, but the highback booster doesn't sit the best there. It is safe, but the seatbelt gets caught on the base because the base is so large.
As far as an SUV goes, the X is the safest thing out there. It has an extremely low center of gravity.
The biggest feature I'd say that's a big win for someone w/ babies and small toddlers, is the ability to leave the AC on in the car while they are sleeping. My kids always fall asleep in the car and I have never been able to leave them be in previous cars. I pulled into home and then had to shut off the engine or risk carbon monoxide filling up the garage. I see you're in Austin as well. The garage would get too hot for the kids. With the X, I just leave climate on and drop it to a nice 68 degrees and leave it on until they wake up from their nap. I normally don't leave them unattended for more than 5 minutes or so, but I will grab something to do and be comfortable in the car while they nap. That is worth its weight in gold. Why the heck would you wake a sleeping kid!
Mileage ... sucks compared to an ICE vehicle. But if you only drive around town, it's not a big deal at all. Just plug in overnight and you have a full tank of "gas" in the morning. City of Austin has a great subsidized electric plan with chargepoint as well. $50/yr for unlimited charging at any chargepoint location within the city. They also have good parking locations. You could park at the domain in multiple garages and charge up on the first floor. There's a bunch downtown as well, though I avoid that area like the plague.
Feel free to post more questions. Since I live in the same area as you, I could probably give you more specific examples of something you could relate to.
Came here to post this, tons of videos including showing how easy the white seats clean up.
Awesome for 2 kids. We have 5 and 2yo. TexasRat really nailed it above. Especially the napping part and being able to leave AC on anywhere. Very useful to have the 6+ seats since when a set of grandparents are over we need the people capacity. There is overall less storage than a minivan for hauling big stuff unless you get the 7 seater (we have a 6 seater). We got 6 seater 2 years ago when it was cheaper than 7 seater, figuring with that money I’d rather have things like furniture delivered instead of me bringing it home, but I think if I bought it today I’d get the 7 seater since it is cheaper and you can fold it all the way down. The roominess without the center console is wonderful though.
Only negative is with young kids they want to press all the buttons, especially the FWD. also The falcon door wing did close on my 2 yo rear facing kid’s foot while it was coming down because he was sticking it out the side of the car seat. It did not stop and just twisted it to quite a bit to the side. Luckily nothing broke (baby) but that was scary—things like that could happen in any car, but something we hadn’t thought of in this one.
If your kids are like mine, we can’t drive more than 2 hours without them going crazy, so we take full advantage of supercharger network and pit stops to eat, run around, get coffee. Superchargers for us overall have been in great spots so I do not mind it at all. In addition not having to find stops to get gas with kids is great, that just became an extra task we had to fit in with kids that we don’t anymore now that we just charge at home.
I would recommend a stroller that fits in frunk (summer infant 3D lite). We have britax agile, which takes up almost all the back space if 3rd row seat is up... we are almost out of the stroller phase so we decided not to get another stroller but it would have made a few Costco runs a lot easier...
Only negative is with young kids they want to press all the buttons, especially the FWD. also The falcon door wing did close on my 2 yo rear facing kid’s foot while it was coming down because he was sticking it out the side of the car seat. It did not stop and just twisted it to quite a bit to the side. Luckily nothing broke (baby) but that was scary—things like that could happen in any car, but something we hadn’t thought of in this one.
If your kids are like mine, we can’t drive more than 2 hours without them going crazy, so we take full advantage of supercharger network and pit stops to eat, run around, get coffee. Superchargers for us overall have been in great spots so I do not mind it at all. In addition not having to find stops to get gas with kids is great, that just became an extra task we had to fit in with kids that we don’t anymore now that we just charge at home.
I would recommend a stroller that fits in frunk (summer infant 3D lite). We have britax agile, which takes up almost all the back space if 3rd row seat is up... we are almost out of the stroller phase so we decided not to get another stroller but it would have made a few Costco runs a lot easier...
I wouldn’t say this car is any better for kids versus a traditional SUV ..better for parents loading kids ? Definitely ....safety is on par if not better than other SUVs ...if not using the third row ..there is enough space for strollers etc ....range depends on needs and driving patterns ...if shuttling around town and not going more than 140miles a day the 75 battery will work fine ..tagging @Anzir as he has experience with the kids seats
I can’t really add more than what has been said but I wish I had Falcon Wing Doors when the twins were in infant carriers. There is no vehicle easier to get kids in and out of the second row. They do tend to mark up the back of the front seats with shoe marks but those clean off.
Thank you everyone for the feedback! I can't seem to figure out how to Like everyone's responses - and I work in tech so go figure =/
@TexasRat - I will definitely PM you with some more questions...especially since you're in ATX!!!
@TexasRat - I will definitely PM you with some more questions...especially since you're in ATX!!!
I am posting this reply I made to @liszi here in case it benefits anyone else in a similar situation.
First off, this purchase was kind of a random thing for me. I decided for my birthday I'd test drive a tesla finally. I had a lexus RX 450h and I really liked it. It was comfortable and did all I really needed it to do. I had always wanted to test drive a tesla, and I have a lot of friends at work who have them ... so that basically started it all. I test drove the S and X twice each. I loved the S and how it drove, but I LOVED the X. There's a lot to be in awe of, especially the technology, the windshield and the three rows. To that extent, I did not look at other vehicles because I was only considering trading in my RX to get an X. If the X didn't pan out, I would have kept my RX and been happy. That being said...
Storage:
There is GOBS of storage in the vehicle. As far as fitting kids stuff and other stuff, that's going to depend on how much you need to actually store. There's plenty of room for a stroller and other things in the trunk. Also don't forget the frunk, which you can use to fill up with other things, like groceries and odds and ends as well. The Trunk really has two areas of storage: the bottom under the storage board and then above it. With the 3rd row folded down, it has an incredible amount of storage. I think you need organizers to maximize your storage though. I have several that I use, including an instant-crate I bought at costco (I have 3 of them if I need them), another velcro-based container that folds flat and a trunk organizer that sits on the bottom. If you look at my accessories thread where I listed some of the accessories I purchased to aid in my enjoyment of the car, you'll see how I store things under the storage board in the trunk. I keep the charging cables, paper towels, wet wipes, hand wipes, sanitizers, puppy pad (for bad diaper changes -- though my kids are both out of diapers now) as well as plastic bags (for rubbish), microfiber towels and detail spray to keep the car clean and reusable bags. TONS of space
Any advice/experience with aftermarket accessories?
Last weekend, I ran to home depot, H-mart and costco while out with the family. I bought a 20" box fan from home depot, two large bags of groceries from H-mart and a HUGE shopping cart from costco. It all fit perfectly in the back of the trunk without even using the storage area under the trunk or the frunk.
Safety: Yes child locks are standard and you set it from the MCU. It only prevents them from opening the door though, as you can still push the close button and the doors will close. They almost nailed my son who didn't get out of the way, but the sensors caught him and the door did not close on him. This is a potential issue though, as if they just left a single appendage hanging out and the sensor didn't catch it, it would hit them decently hard. I would not leave them unsupervised in the area.
Charging: This was pretty new to me as well, as this is my first EV. It depends on what you want to do with the car and how much you're going to use it (and trust me, you're going to WANT to drive it everywhere!). I did personally get a 14-50 NEMA installed at home and I plug in at home only on the weekends. I work at National Instruments where I get free electricity per the Austin subsidized chargepoint program. I charge at work M - F and then plug in at night Saturday night to basically leverage as much fixed-cost electricity as possible. If I didn't do that, I would plug in every night at home and wake up to a "full tank of gas." It's fine for the battery, but if you want to optimize lifespan, I believe keeping it between 30% - 70% State of Charge (SOC) is preferable. It's very easy to do as you can control how much max charge the car allows for from the screen and from your phone as well. I live in city of Austin, but I have pedernales coop for my electricity. The rate of electricity is about 10 cents / khw. Based on my chargepoint account, I would say that I have consumed somewhere between 450 - 500 kwh in August (about 1000 miles driven and it's been so hot I keep the AC at about 68 - 70 in the car). That would cost me about $45 - 50 in extra energy per month. It's not as much as my $80-$100 gas bill though. The reality is that I paid about $5 - 10 extra per month as most of the energy came from chargepoint.
Comforts: I do not miss my ventilated seats. They are semi-gimmicky as they don't really cool down your butt that much since you're blocking the airflow. Also when you run them, it stole from the total airflow coming out of the car in my Lexus (both, I have had two previous ones and they behaved the same). You pre-cool your car remotely, but most times I forget to do that. Even then, it gets the car nice and cool very quickly. My wife and kids both complain the car is too cold. With kids ... you will NOT miss ventilated seats! They're such a pain to clean. These seats are incredibly simple to clean in their design. It's honestly the easiest car to care for that I've ever owned.
Compare: I mentioned earlier but I didn't compare it against anything besides my RX.
Other thoughts: Hrm. Only thing I could say if make sure you can afford it. It's not a cheap car and it's most likely going to depreciate a lot in the time you own it. It's incredibly fun and practical though. If you can swing it, I would definitely get it if you liked what you saw so far. Be aware of quality issues though. I have had my car in the shop for 2.5 weeks to have them fix initial defects from delivery. I think that's par for the course. Read up on the delivery experience threads to make sure that you know what you're getting into. If you can look past it though, it's quite an amazing car.
Where do you live / work / commute to? In just about every scenario, this car is great for everything that you're talking about.
Oh, and kids make a mess. I know you mentioned you didn't care, but they are so bad about it. This car is easy to clean, but you have to get used to them trashing a $100k car. If you're okay with that, then that's great. I'm not, so there's no eating or drinking in the car They are used to it though, the X is no exception to my previous cars in that regard.
First off, this purchase was kind of a random thing for me. I decided for my birthday I'd test drive a tesla finally. I had a lexus RX 450h and I really liked it. It was comfortable and did all I really needed it to do. I had always wanted to test drive a tesla, and I have a lot of friends at work who have them ... so that basically started it all. I test drove the S and X twice each. I loved the S and how it drove, but I LOVED the X. There's a lot to be in awe of, especially the technology, the windshield and the three rows. To that extent, I did not look at other vehicles because I was only considering trading in my RX to get an X. If the X didn't pan out, I would have kept my RX and been happy. That being said...
Storage:
There is GOBS of storage in the vehicle. As far as fitting kids stuff and other stuff, that's going to depend on how much you need to actually store. There's plenty of room for a stroller and other things in the trunk. Also don't forget the frunk, which you can use to fill up with other things, like groceries and odds and ends as well. The Trunk really has two areas of storage: the bottom under the storage board and then above it. With the 3rd row folded down, it has an incredible amount of storage. I think you need organizers to maximize your storage though. I have several that I use, including an instant-crate I bought at costco (I have 3 of them if I need them), another velcro-based container that folds flat and a trunk organizer that sits on the bottom. If you look at my accessories thread where I listed some of the accessories I purchased to aid in my enjoyment of the car, you'll see how I store things under the storage board in the trunk. I keep the charging cables, paper towels, wet wipes, hand wipes, sanitizers, puppy pad (for bad diaper changes -- though my kids are both out of diapers now) as well as plastic bags (for rubbish), microfiber towels and detail spray to keep the car clean and reusable bags. TONS of space
Any advice/experience with aftermarket accessories?
Last weekend, I ran to home depot, H-mart and costco while out with the family. I bought a 20" box fan from home depot, two large bags of groceries from H-mart and a HUGE shopping cart from costco. It all fit perfectly in the back of the trunk without even using the storage area under the trunk or the frunk.
Safety: Yes child locks are standard and you set it from the MCU. It only prevents them from opening the door though, as you can still push the close button and the doors will close. They almost nailed my son who didn't get out of the way, but the sensors caught him and the door did not close on him. This is a potential issue though, as if they just left a single appendage hanging out and the sensor didn't catch it, it would hit them decently hard. I would not leave them unsupervised in the area.
Charging: This was pretty new to me as well, as this is my first EV. It depends on what you want to do with the car and how much you're going to use it (and trust me, you're going to WANT to drive it everywhere!). I did personally get a 14-50 NEMA installed at home and I plug in at home only on the weekends. I work at National Instruments where I get free electricity per the Austin subsidized chargepoint program. I charge at work M - F and then plug in at night Saturday night to basically leverage as much fixed-cost electricity as possible. If I didn't do that, I would plug in every night at home and wake up to a "full tank of gas." It's fine for the battery, but if you want to optimize lifespan, I believe keeping it between 30% - 70% State of Charge (SOC) is preferable. It's very easy to do as you can control how much max charge the car allows for from the screen and from your phone as well. I live in city of Austin, but I have pedernales coop for my electricity. The rate of electricity is about 10 cents / khw. Based on my chargepoint account, I would say that I have consumed somewhere between 450 - 500 kwh in August (about 1000 miles driven and it's been so hot I keep the AC at about 68 - 70 in the car). That would cost me about $45 - 50 in extra energy per month. It's not as much as my $80-$100 gas bill though. The reality is that I paid about $5 - 10 extra per month as most of the energy came from chargepoint.
Comforts: I do not miss my ventilated seats. They are semi-gimmicky as they don't really cool down your butt that much since you're blocking the airflow. Also when you run them, it stole from the total airflow coming out of the car in my Lexus (both, I have had two previous ones and they behaved the same). You pre-cool your car remotely, but most times I forget to do that. Even then, it gets the car nice and cool very quickly. My wife and kids both complain the car is too cold. With kids ... you will NOT miss ventilated seats! They're such a pain to clean. These seats are incredibly simple to clean in their design. It's honestly the easiest car to care for that I've ever owned.
Compare: I mentioned earlier but I didn't compare it against anything besides my RX.
Other thoughts: Hrm. Only thing I could say if make sure you can afford it. It's not a cheap car and it's most likely going to depreciate a lot in the time you own it. It's incredibly fun and practical though. If you can swing it, I would definitely get it if you liked what you saw so far. Be aware of quality issues though. I have had my car in the shop for 2.5 weeks to have them fix initial defects from delivery. I think that's par for the course. Read up on the delivery experience threads to make sure that you know what you're getting into. If you can look past it though, it's quite an amazing car.
Where do you live / work / commute to? In just about every scenario, this car is great for everything that you're talking about.
Oh, and kids make a mess. I know you mentioned you didn't care, but they are so bad about it. This car is easy to clean, but you have to get used to them trashing a $100k car. If you're okay with that, then that's great. I'm not, so there's no eating or drinking in the car
They are used to it though, the X is no exception to my previous cars in that regard.
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. I'm not, so there's no eating or drinking in the car
Ah Dad!!!!!!
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
Elon is a family man, with a bunch of kids. Many believe that he designed the X especially considering hauling kids and their stuff around.
There is an amazing amount of space inside. Just when you begin to get it filled up with kid things you remember you have even more room in the frunk for their back packs and stuff.
There is an amazing amount of space inside. Just when you begin to get it filled up with kid things you remember you have even more room in the frunk for their back packs and stuff.
Light Fury
Member
When I had the overnight loaner, my kids loved how much room they had for their backpacks and sports gear (6-seat configuration). They also loved that the FWD allowed them easy access into and out of the vehicle in carpool, while lugging their backpacks and extra gear.
For my 2yo and 9mo the Model X has been great. Mileage is not an issue around our small town, and we haven't taken a trip yet, but the kids do want out every 2-3 hours, so looking forward to trying out a Supercharger road trip.
As ethical as buying an EV feels, this is the best reason for someone with kids to by the Model X. We have some LATCH guides that don't fit, so there is some difficulty finding where to clip on, but if you're taking them in and out, it will probs be as easy as taking the kids in and out. I got used to it so fast the only time I think about it is dealing with ceilings when we have to use other cars. We don't have a use case for a 6th passenger, so we stuck with the 5 seat to maximize space.
My 2yo loves all the buttons. We usually take an extra 15 min to play around in the car before she's willing to get strapped in to the car seat. That may not be any longer than she wants to play with buttons in other cars. She is very happy being able to control the FWD, and it did close on her head once, but stopped before doing any damage. The look on her face was more "How could this car I love do that to me?" and she has learned to stay clear since, even telling others to "Watch out!" before hitting the button.
One recommendation, as they get older and use a booster with the car seat belt buy a seat belt extender on amazon. As it is built into the leather, the booster will typically cover the adapter. The extender makes it quick and easy. Keep in mind, the extender clicks into the adapter so your car will always think the seat belt is connected. You have to confirm the seat belt is connected to the extender.
Did you wind up purchasing the X?
I have a 5 year old, 2year old and a 1month old in a 7seat 75D.
The killer feature? Closing the doors with a click of a button!
Unloading all the kids, sometimes sleeping, screaming, running around.. Its really easy, and getting them in is actually pretty fun! Standing upright under the FWD with plenty of room to reach into the car and buckle up, or install the seats and move them around.
Getting everything out of the car, groceries and kids, and walking away clicking a button and everything closes!
I do often stay back just to watch the FWD close because its crazy and really fun to watch.
We take a lot more roadtrips now then we did with our ICE, simply because of the convenience of the car and the supercharging network. I guess we let the supercharger locations guide us to new adventures.
We don't always take all the kids into the mall (or plaza or whatever is hosting the chargers) while supercharging, but rather call in ahead of time and do a takeout, and eat in the trunk haha. Couple of times taken children chairs and table and set it up in the trunk for the kids to eat. Its an absolute blast. Rocking to Baby Shark and dancing around.
I have a 5 year old, 2year old and a 1month old in a 7seat 75D.
The killer feature? Closing the doors with a click of a button!
Unloading all the kids, sometimes sleeping, screaming, running around.. Its really easy, and getting them in is actually pretty fun! Standing upright under the FWD with plenty of room to reach into the car and buckle up, or install the seats and move them around.
Getting everything out of the car, groceries and kids, and walking away clicking a button and everything closes!
I do often stay back just to watch the FWD close because its crazy and really fun to watch.
We take a lot more roadtrips now then we did with our ICE, simply because of the convenience of the car and the supercharging network. I guess we let the supercharger locations guide us to new adventures.
We don't always take all the kids into the mall (or plaza or whatever is hosting the chargers) while supercharging, but rather call in ahead of time and do a takeout, and eat in the trunk haha. Couple of times taken children chairs and table and set it up in the trunk for the kids to eat. Its an absolute blast. Rocking to Baby Shark and dancing around.
forkee
Member
This!
I love closing the doors, it feels like they are about to go on star tours, back to the future, or some other amusement park ride..
I also like to get out of the car and walk away, pressing the fob so that the door closes by itself, lol
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
childcarepro
Member
We have both a 2014 Mercedes GL350 BlueTEC (for towing an Airstream Bambi) and a 2018 MX (6 seats), and the two big things that differentiate the two (one has NOT been mentioned):
1. The full wide access to the second row WITHOUT needing 3 feet of clearance. I’ve had to pull the GL partially out of a parking space so I could get the Doona car seat stroller in.
2. The MX is LOWER by a few inches, also making getting a car seat with infant in it (especially a heavier car seat like the Doona) in and out a breeze.
Another big difference: the turbo diesel engine of the GL350 pulls like a freight train and has serious get-up-and-go, but has a 0.5 - 1 second delay between gunning it and it actually starting to move. So in the GL, I just sit and wait until there’s NO ONE behind for half a mile. With the MX, the ability to move with a comfortable margin of safety is MUCH wider.
The GL does haul 6-7 people with more leg room for all better than the MX. Our first MX was a 7 seater but we realized you can’t seat adults in the third row unless you have a 6-seater, and if you have children, adults HAVE to go in the third row. So when it was totaled, we got the 6 seater instead.
1. The full wide access to the second row WITHOUT needing 3 feet of clearance. I’ve had to pull the GL partially out of a parking space so I could get the Doona car seat stroller in.
2. The MX is LOWER by a few inches, also making getting a car seat with infant in it (especially a heavier car seat like the Doona) in and out a breeze.
Another big difference: the turbo diesel engine of the GL350 pulls like a freight train and has serious get-up-and-go, but has a 0.5 - 1 second delay between gunning it and it actually starting to move. So in the GL, I just sit and wait until there’s NO ONE behind for half a mile. With the MX, the ability to move with a comfortable margin of safety is MUCH wider.
The GL does haul 6-7 people with more leg room for all better than the MX. Our first MX was a 7 seater but we realized you can’t seat adults in the third row unless you have a 6-seater, and if you have children, adults HAVE to go in the third row. So when it was totaled, we got the 6 seater instead.
