We 'met the X' in Denver this past Saturday. Overall I was impressed with the car--certainly not 'meh' from my perspective. Unfortunately we're going to cancel our reservation and will put off our move to full electric for a couple more years (Model 3 reservation list, here we come...). I'll try to detail our reasoning here. Please, don't send the vultures to descend upon me. Apologies for the length of the post... I wanted to try to fully explain our thought process.
Some background: we've been waiting to upgrade from a 2 Prius household to add a 6- or 7-seat vehicle suitable for road-tripping our family of 4 as well as allowing us to deal with having guests in town w/o having to take 2 vehicles. We've been waiting
for a while. Our X deposit went down in Feb of 2014, and at that time we planned to have the X or whatever alternative we settled on by late 2015. When the X kept getting delayed, we kept on waiting, wanting to drive the X before making a decision one way or the other. We wanted to go full electric, but knew that that may not be realistic for us as the X is the only game in town. If we didn't like it / couldn't afford the ultimate pricing, we'd have to settle for a hybrid or PHEV.
After the X 'launched' and pricing came out, we knew what we would be dealing with if we wanted the X: at least $98,500 for a 'base' X with the 90 kWh battery and 6 seats--no other options. That is
steep for us. Certainly doable, but the vehicle would have to be head-and-shoulders better than the competition for our purposes. And ideally we wouldn't want a hobbled X--we'd like Autopilot, leather seating, a color other than white/black, and the accessory hitch--now we're at $104k. After tax credits here in the Rockies, it'd be about $91k. I'm aware we could get a 70 kWh battery, but we don't want to deal with road-trip hassles and aren't sure that 220 rated miles would be enough, especially on trips off the Supercharger path or five years from now with some degradation in place.
In the time leading up to our Meet the X appointment, we test-drove our alternative vehicles. I'm sure these will not be considered alternatives to the X to many of you, as 1) they're not all-electric and 2) they don't match the X in performance. But our goals here are 1) safety, 2) fuel efficiency not being terrible, and 3) interior comfort/functionality. We're not attracted to Tesla for their ludicrous driving performance (though I'm not complaining!), but for the all-electric vision and safety.
First up was the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. We've been a Toyota household since 2005 (three vehicles, zero repair bills outside of warranty), and the Highlander is comfortable, reliable, and efficient compared to anything in the class other than the X. In a word, the Highlander is... fine. It's a good vehicle. Doesn't inspire much emotion, though. The third row is OK--useable, but just OK. It's a 6-seater with plenty of creature comforts. The interior storage is great--cupholders, giant console storage, shelf on the dash replete with pass-through for device charging, all seats fold flat. It's just a 'regular' hybrid, getting around 27 MPG. Safety ratings are good, but not perfect. Cost is sub-$50k loaded. Far and away the cost-efficient choice.
Next was the Volvo XC90 T8 PHEV. The XC90 has been racking up awards like it's Tesla in 2013, and the T8 adds a 9 kWh battery for about 17 miles real-world range. That's nothing compared to the Tesla, but aside from the X it's class-leading for a 7-seater SUV. We quite liked the XC90. The interior is extremely well-done. Volvo's seats are class-leading (yes, better than Tesla's), the Sensus infotainment system is very intuitive and reminds me a lot of Tesla's system (smaller screen, but nearly every aspect of the car is touchscreen-controlled). Interior convenience tech is the best of the three--there's a HUD, CarPlay/Android Auto (by the time our car would arrive if we went this route), integrated data modem, etc. Rear seats are good--I'm 5' 10" and could easily sit back there for a reasonably long trip. Not quite as much interior storage as the Highlander, but a sufficient amount. Independently-adjustable seats in the middle row, plus an integrated booster seat in the middle for when the kiddos get a little bigger. All seats fold flat. Third row access is not spectacular since it's a 7-seater, but it wasn't bad. Performance is actually decent--400 combined HP and 0-60 of 5.3. Not Tesla-like, but much better than the Highlander and very good for a 7-seater. Safety ratings are excellent. Volvo is likely the only manufacturer that could rival Tesla on safety, and in fact they have a few safety features that even Tesla can't match currently. Cost after tax credits would be $63k-$66k depending on options.
Finally we met the X. The driving dynamics of the X are exactly what I expected them to be--ludicrous. There's no competition in the 7-seat SUV category that compares to the torque/smoothness of the X. Obviously there are no 7-seater alternatives that are fully electric, either. But we knew that going in. We were there more to evaluate interior utility/comfort, functionality of the crazy Model X seats, etc.
I was impressed by much of the interior refinements Tesla's made in the X--integrated center console, fantastic helicopter-like view from the front seats,
actual cupholders in the back. But other areas still seem tacky--the plastic base of the driver's seat, for example. I was not a fan of the 2nd-row seats. In the 6-seat config, they don't even have armrests. The seat adjustments were not working properly on the units we saw/drove--one was a 6-seater where one of the middle seats wouldn't move but would instead make a loud grinding noise when the button was pressed. The other was a 7-seater whose middle row mostly worked but took a couple of tries. Five months after initial deliveries, this was not a reassuring sign.
Third-row seating was not great. My head was just under the rear glass, and there's no third-row seating area storage (ie for a phone/tablet, etc). The cupholders are between the two rear seats rather than on the outboard side, and seemed like they would be a bit of a pain to use on a drive with 2 people in back. I'd rate the X's third row as comparable to the Highlander's--both would work in a pinch and are certainly better than many third-row options, but the XC90 was a step above both.
All in all, my wife and I thought the X was a solid vehicle. We like it. I'd certainly prefer to be upgrading to an all-electric SUV. But the bottom line is the XC90 T8 better meets our needs at this time--safety is comparable (yes, I know some folks will disagree--I view Tesla better in some ways, eg rollover, and Volvo better in others, eg run-off road protection), both will do a lot of all-electric driving in our use cases, and the XC90 has a more functional interior. If the X and the XC90 were comparable in price, we'd have a very tough decision on our hands. Unfortunately for Tesla, the X--even after tax credits--would run us at least $25k more than the T8; maybe $20k more when fuel savings/insurance costs are taken into account. Or, as I like to think of it, 'half of a well-equipped Model 3.' We've ordered the T8, and will be reserving a Model 3 as soon as Tesla starts taking reservations.
So, two years into our Tesla reservation-holder journey, I once again get to tell myself that in about 2 years, we'll own a Tesla.
I will say that this 'Meet the X' event was the first time I've ever felt sales pressure from Tesla. It was... weird. Nothing unreasonable, but it was clear that my 'copilot' really wanted me to log in and hit the order button before I left the event.