I have twin daughters that are nearly 2 years old and another on the way in April. Please save me from buying a van. Is anyone using their Model X for 3 kids still in car seats? EDIT: I wasn't sure if anyone besides the initial 6 deliveries has received their vehicle or not yet...
The site, or was it the reveal, stated you can have up to 4 car-seats in the X. 2 per row. You cannot place 3 car-seats in the middle row though...
The "fancy" seat option (standard on Founders and sig) for the X offers 4 LATCH points for car seats -- the outboard 2nd row seats and both 3rd row seats. If you know anything about LATCH, you can spot the tell-tale plastic circles on the seats shown on the main Model X page. However, just because there aren't LATCH points on the 2nd row center seat doesn't mean you can't put a car seat there -- every car seat that I know of can also be secured "the old fashioned way" via the seat belt. Just make sure you figure out how to use the metal seat-belt-locker thing that comes with the car seat. Further, if I remember correctly, there was a message from Tesla at some point saying that the "base" seats for the X would offer 5 total LATCH points...3 in the second row and 2 in the 3rd row. I'm guessing we'll get some hint of those when Production models get to configure. Finally, if you are determined, and creative, you can fit 3 car seats in many cars. While we do have a Honda Odyssey for our 3 kids, I have also managed on a few occasions to get 3 car seats in the back seat of my commuter: a 2008 Honda Fit. All 3 seats were well secured and all 3 kids were comfortable (5 year old in full booster including the backrest part, 3 year old front facing in a huge carseat, and <1 year old rear facing). Based on that, I can pretty well guarantee that 3 car seats will fit in either an X or an S just fine.
When I was in a similar situation (2 kids in car seats, a third on the way), I found that very few cars could accommodate 3 car seats across in the middle row. I didn't find any that had 3 LATCH positions in the rear seats, but I was happy to belt in the middle car seat. The key metric turned out to be "hip room" on the car specs, and I found that 56 inches was usually adequate for 3 car seats across. The model S is spec'd at 54.7 inches of second row hip room. The few guesses at Model X specs I can find don't list second row hip room. At the time, I was trying to avoid a third row of seating.
I can fit three Diano Radians across in the Model S. I only use two (one is rear facing, one forward facing), but you can definitely fit one on each side of the center seat. The center seat uses the belt, while the outboards can use LATCH. With two seats (one behind the passenger, one in center), you can fit an adult (snugly) behind the driver and they can fasten their seat belt easily. I would imagine the X, designed more for families, isn't smaller than the S in hip room.
Bumping this thread. Does anyone have videos or people entering or exiting the Model X with a car seat(s) installed?
On the MS, you can connect two hooks, each from separate car seats, onto the same LATCH. In this way, you can LATCH 3 child seats across the same row. Which begs the question, are the MX seats wider than the MS?
A Facebook Owners' Group member reports that the second row seats don't tilt until they are all the way forward, which she says prevents her from using that second row seat (with a child seat) for access via the FWD. If you use FB, you may wish to search out the group for more info (Tesla Model X Owners Club is the name of the group).
I don't think you're supposed to do that. I'm not sure the precise reason, but I assume because the LATCH connectors are only designed for the force of one child/carseat in the event of an accident.
+1 to tomp's concern. I don't have an S, so I can't be sure, but with four kids, I know my other vehicles do not want more than one seat connected to any one LATCH. Our three-across middle row has 6 separate LATCH connectors for that reason.
The seats bolsters in the back of my S really get in the way. I had a hard time finding a booster seat for my 6 y/o. Finally found a narrow one but it doesn't have a cup holder (boo).
I have the same set up and have installed all three forward facing (or two forward and one backwards in my Model S. We have since graduated to boosters and have purchased 5inch extenders so that the kids can buckle their own seatbelts. The flush seatbelt connectors are a pain with boosters.
According to X manual there's 59" of hip room in the second row - plenty of room to install 3 child seats across.
