Major 2021 Model X refresh pending [Update: Unveiled January 27, 2021]

[dmurphy]

Also, I'm jealous that you consider a 10' garage ceiling to be low! What luxury. Come back to me when you try to park in a 8' garage with pipes and HVAC hanging off the ceiling above all the parking spots. In my experience it's 50/50 whether or not the FWD will open more than half way in garages here in central LA. If you're lucky they open 75% and you might get a chance to hit your head going past them.

Sounds like my garage at home! Doesn't really matter though as a prior-owner renovation made the garage too shallow to fit the Model X (or even the Model 3) anyway.

So we park in the driveway... (Why do we park in the driveway and drive on the parkway? The world may never know ...)

Thankfully that means FWD height isn't a problem, but the snow/ice/etc. on it sure is.

If there's 1,000 X owners, there's at least 3,000 different use cases. No way to make everyone 100% satisfied, but I think we can all agree that it's a pretty darned great vehicle just as it sits.

 

[Tiger]

Have to say, that if it turns out that speculation is true that Plaid is actually coming out now in March, I'll have to cancel (read:modify) my MXP7 order and get the Plaid7

On a second thought, the wait-list is probably going to be mad, so might as well get the MX first.

 

[DoctorVenkman]

Have to say, that if it turns out that speculation is true that Plaid is actually coming out now in March, I'll have to cancel (read:modify) my MXP7 order and get the Plaid7

Can you summarize what exactly the news is? I'm not going to watch a 20 min youtube video for what is probably 1 sentence worth of new information. The only recent news I can find is that some photos were taken of a test vehicle, but that doesn't exactly confirm it's coming out in March.

 

[Tiger]

Can you summarize what exactly the news is? I'm not going to watch a 20 min youtube video for what is probably 1 sentence worth of new information. The only recent news I can find is that some photos were taken of a test vehicle, but that doesn't exactly confirm it's coming out in March.

I recommend to watch all videos at 2x speed to save time.

 

[DoctorVenkman]

I recommend to watch all videos at 2x speed to save time.

I have no interest in watching 10 minutes of a garbled high pitched youtuber padding out their ad revenue either, just for the small chance I can get one small piece of information. Is there anything substantial in that video or is it all speculation?

 

[ek993]

And the above is based on what? I have a 2020 X and in 2-3 years when it will be time to replace I would buy another X - if it still has the FWD. If not I will look elsewhere. Actually before the X my wife wanted the new Lincoln Aviator PHEV - but the battery was too small. I suspect in 2-3 years there will be a lot more options. As to the person complaining about garage ceilings - I have 10' ceilings and a garage @35' wide - non issue. Nor is it a problem anywhere else I go. The convenience of the FWD's though is great. Picking up kids - easy to open the doors - and when approaching. Nice to have the drivers door automatically open and close by simply touching the brake pedal. Removing FWD's would be a step backwards. The competition is coming and ALL of them will NOT have FWD's. So why get rid of a unique distinguishing feature? Which I suspect the majority like.

Based on the points I made in my second post, that if you want an EV, currently Tesla is the only game in town due to the supercharger network. If you want a large SUV from Tesla, then an X is your only option. I don’t think FWD’s will be the deciding factor for the majority of people considering purchasing it (millions of SUV’s are sold each year from competing brands, none have FWD’s so clearly that’s not a showstopper for sales). I don’t see a robust charging network existing in the next 2 or 3 years for other brands to take advantage of, so they may have cars to market, however they aren’t really going to be viable for this reason. I have no doubt the infrastructure will come though, and when that does happen all bets are off for Tesla.

You mention that if the next X doesn’t have FWD’s, you will be looking elsewhere. Any other brand you might buy will also not have FWD’s, so I don’t understand that logic?

 

[DanCar]

I have no interest in watching 10 minutes of a garbled high pitched youtuber padding out their ad revenue either, just for the small chance I can get one small piece of information. Is there anything substantial in that video or is it all speculation?

Summary:

1. Tesla intentionally leaks exterior of new redesign with chrome delete and wider tires.
2. Jury is out whether contains wider body panels.
3. Has a rear diffuser
4. Front lights different? a few more items?

 

[Tiger]

Summary:

1. Tesla intentionally leaks exterior of new redesign with chrome delete and wider tires.
2. Jury is out whether contains wider body panels.
3. Has a rear diffuser
4. Front lights different? a few more items?

I must have seen a different video - well, I guess it's best to see with own eyes.

 

[Shateam]

There is also this reply from Elon on Twitter regarding “sandbagging” the Plaid timeline. Though it’s not exactly clear what he is referring to in his reply.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1345386356504027136?s=21

 

[DoctorVenkman]

Thanks everyone for summarizing. As I suspected, nothing was "confirmed" and it's just more speculation.

 

[TheGringoShow]

I have no interest in watching 10 minutes of a garbled high pitched YouTuber padding out their ad revenue either, just for the small chance I can get one small piece of information. Is there anything substantial in that video, or is it all speculation?

I agree with you 100%. So many videos could be a mere 2 minutes but are dragged out for YT add revenue.

 

[DanCar]

Look at front fender. Right pic fender sticks out further to me. The side rearward facing camera is in a different position. I wouldn't be surprised if that was updated to a side facing camera in addition to rear facing.
https://twitter.com/AEONde/status/1345145220120383489/photo/1
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqrqXHZXEAEYMd8?format=jpg&name=large

 

[Gwgan]

Gali suspects the X gets cancelled. I am hoping a refresh will entice me to update my 4 year old X.

 

[msm859]

Based on the points I made in my second post, that if you want an EV, currently Tesla is the only game in town due to the supercharger network. If you want a large SUV from Tesla, then an X is your only option. I don’t think FWD’s will be the deciding factor for the majority of people considering purchasing it (millions of SUV’s are sold each year from competing brands, none have FWD’s so clearly that’s not a showstopper for sales). I don’t see a robust charging network existing in the next 2 or 3 years for other brands to take advantage of, so they may have cars to market, however they aren’t really going to be viable for this reason. I have no doubt the infrastructure will come though, and when that does happen all bets are off for Tesla.

You mention that if the next X doesn’t have FWD’s, you will be looking elsewhere. Any other brand you might buy will also not have FWD’s, so I don’t understand that logic?

Before we bought the X my wife wanted the new Lincoln Aviator GT PHEV - they are about the same price. The interior of the Aviator to most people is far more luxurious. Massaging and cooled seats - finer materials, stereo, etc. The X won because I did not like that Lincoln put in such a small battery and weak electric motor. In 2-3 years I suspect there will be a lot more options. If you had a full BEV Lincoln Aviator vs a "Revised" X that looks like everything else then you start looking at the differentials. I suspect based on "philosophy" the Lincoln would still have a nicer interior. It the exteriors are now similar, why go with the Tesla? Obviously the Supercharging network cannot be beat - for now. But how long will that advantage last? I had a hard time convincing my wife to go with the Tesla X the first time vs the Aviator that we specifically travelled 500 miles down to the LA auto show to see and she loved. She now loves driving the X and the FWD's (and all the automatic doors). Although some here mentioned they don't like the "attention" of the FWD's.........that has never been my wife. LOL.

 

[msm859]

The fact of the matter is no one has any evidence one way or the other whether "most people" prefer normal or FWD - all they have is their own opinion. Clearly there are valid points on both sides and it comes down to your personal circumstances and what things you value.

Also, I'm jealous that you consider a 10' garage ceiling to be low! What luxury. Come back to me when you try to park in a 8' garage with pipes and HVAC hanging off the ceiling above all the parking spots. In my experience it's 50/50 whether or not the FWD will open more than half way in garages here in central LA. If you're lucky they open 75% and you might get a chance to hit your head going past them.

I don't consider my garage ceiling low. I think it is the right height (and that is the cross beams - ceiling is 11')And no pipes or HVAC. I designed and built my house. My garage has 3 bays 36' wide, 1st bay is @21' deep, 2nd @ 25' deep and 3rd bay @ 52' deep. Never heard anyone complain about a garage being too big! But I know what you are saying. My son lives in Redondo Beach in a house that is "garage challenged".

 

[dmurphy]

Gali suspects the X gets cancelled. I am hoping a refresh will entice me to update my 4 year old X.

"Random Youtube nitwit makes crazy prediction to drive clicks, film at 11."

 

[wdolson]

X has FWDs to allow easier access to kids and child seats in that row. Also provides rain/snow protection while loading the kids.

Allows doors to be opened in much tighter parking spaces which would trap people inside with conventional doors.

Understand that some people do not want these "different" doors, but it was all part of the overall design to make the Model X something special.

Super bonus is that the Model X can now be used to transport Astronauts to their launch vehicles, without unhooking all their umbilical life support connections. No longer need to use the +20 year old NASA MoonBuggies.

The solution car companies came up with for this problem before the X was sliding doors, but those have largely gone out of fashion.

This is a bit of a non-sequitur. It would be a huge job to retrofit standard doors onto the model X since you'd essentially have to rebuild the entire roof between the B and C pillars when you took the FWD out. It would be costly and probably come out janky. Not some simple job like you are implying. So the fact that people don't want to spend thousands of dollars for some Frankenstein aftermarket door mod does not indicate a lack of demand for normal doors from the OEM.

The changes necessary to put normal doors on an X would involve a redesign of the car's structure. Considering how many car modders there are out there and I haven't seen a single X with aftermarket door replacement in 4+ years tells me it's way too big a project for small time modders to take on.

With the S there is even an S station wagon mod.

 

[Nuclear Fusion]

Look at front fender. Right pic fender sticks out further to me. The side rearward facing camera is in a different position. I wouldn't be surprised if that was updated to a side facing camera in addition to rear facing.
https://twitter.com/AEONde/status/1345145220120383489/photo/1
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqrqXHZXEAEYMd8?format=jpg&name=large

The fender is no different - it’s simply the darker colour plus shadow that makes it appear so

 

[aesculus]

Gali suspects the X gets cancelled. I am hoping a refresh will entice me to update my 4 year old X.

But it's a classic. Why would you want to part with a classic?

 

[Vic_F]

The majority of updates to S/X will be for ease if manufacture, battery system. Other changes will be minor.