Model X on Amtrak auto train - dimensions

[andrewket]

We have a trip to Florida coming up in April, and I was considering the auto train between Virginia and Florida one-way. We did this last year with the Model S and it worked out great. This year we would prefer to take the X, but it looks like the X might be too big (edit: It looks like with the mirrors folded it will fit):

Amtrak:

Auto Train Boarding and Vehicle Requirements | Amtrak

Maximum height: 88 inches.
Maximum width: 84 inches.
Ground clearance: at least 4 inches.

Model X specs:

https://www.teslamotors.com/support/model-x-specifications

Length 198.3"
Wheelbase 116.7"
Width 89.4" (81.5" with mirrors folded)
Clearance 7.55" (7.2" - 8.78" with air suspension)

Notice the height of the car is missing. I suspect Tesla has omitted this because of the FWDs. For this exercise, I need the height of the car with the FWDs closed. This is what I found, but I don't know how accurate it is:

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-height-of-Teslas-Model-X-not-high-like-all-other-SUVs

93" height with FWD closed. This means it's too tall for Amtrak.

The wiki says:

Q: What is the clearance of the falcon wing doors (FWD) when fully opened?
A: With the car suspension set to Very High, there is 81" (6' - 9"; 2,06m) clearance from the ground to the lowest point on the FWD. Based on the ground clearance measurements below, that would imply that on Very Low, there would be 78" (6' - 6"; 1,98m) clearance.

Anyone have any better specifications?

Edit: found this post http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/60228-Model-X-Dimensions

Overall Length 198.3” 5,035.6mm
Overall width including mirrors 89.4” 2,271mm
Overall width including folded mirrors 81.6” 2,073mm
Overall width excluding mirrors 78.7” 1,999mm
Overall height 66.3” 1,684mm
Wheel base 116.7” 2,965mm
Overhang front 38.3” 973.6mm
Overhang rear 43.2” 1097.7mm
Ground clearance low 6.7” 171mm
GC Std (w/o hitch attachments) 8.3” 211mm
GC Very high (w/o hitch attachments) 8.8” 223mm
Front track 67.1” 1,704.5mm
Rear track 66.9” 1,710mm
Front head room 41.7” 1,059mm
Middle head room 40.7” 1,034mm
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] head room 37.8” 960mm
Front Leg room 41.2” 1,046mm
Middle leg room 38.4” 975mm
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] row leg room 32.7” 831mm
Front shoulder room 60.7” 1,542mm
Middle shoulder room 56.8” 1,443mm
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] row shoulder room 40.0” 1,016mm
Front hip room 55.6” 1,397mm
Middle hip room 59.0” 1,499mm
Gross Vehicle Weight P90D 6,682lbs 3,031kg
Turning circle 40.7'. 11.4m

So .. maximum height is 88" and it looks like the X is 66.3" with FWD closed.

 

[pvogel]

93" is 7' 9", I GUARANTEE that with the FaWD closed the car is no where near 93". It's closer to 70" than it is to 93". I don't know the exact spec but with mirrors folded it should fit Amtrak's limits of 88 wide and 84 high. With 4" clearance

 

[Electric700]

Very interesting, I didn't know Amtrak offered that service.

 

[1208]

Interesting indeed.

With 2.5ins spare on the width I guess you will get out of the car via the tailgate.
Just read the Amtrak link and it says no gull wing doors, well yours is falcon so you are ok. :biggrin:

I thought with those car trains you have to stay in the car.

Are they popular in the USA? We don't have those in the UK but I always thought it would be cool to have 1 so could travel from north to south with the car without the boring long trips on the motor ways. Of course we have the Channel Tunnel one where you stay with your vehicle.

 

[AMPUP]

Interesting indeed.

With 2.5ins spare on the width I guess you will get out of the car via the tailgate.
Just read the Amtrak link and it says no gull wing doors, well yours is falcon so you are ok. :biggrin:

I thought with those car trains you have to stay in the car.

Are they popular in the USA? We don't have those in the UK but I always thought it would be cool to have 1 so could travel from north to south with the car without the boring long trips on the motor ways. Of course we have the Channel Tunnel one where you stay with your vehicle.

I did this a coupe of years ago for a family trip in a Lincoln Navigator, I live in DC area so it was a simple 15 mins to the auto train station and it drops you off near Orlando.

Here was the process:

Arrive at a certain timeframe (I think it was mid afternoon)
You check in and they look around your vehicle and mark any damage
you unload what you need for the overnight train
The Valet drives your car (Crazy fast IMHO) up a ramp and into the back of the train (on a smaller vehicle they can get out of the door, on a larger they crack the window and climb out)
When you arrive the next day its the same process
they drive cars out and when yours comes out you go get it and drive off (can take 90 mins to get your car)

I had scratches on one of my door, that I noticed on the return trip it was painful dealing with them on the repair and ultimately i gave up and had them buffed out. (they weren't deep)
The trip was great, we had a sleeper cabin for 4, Everyone except myself slept (I do not sleep well on transport), Dinner, Drinks, Breakfast was all included as was a happy hour event.
You can also choose to not have a cabin for less $$ and sleep in a seat like a regular train.

I think it was approx $1400 return (including the Cabin).

I would NOT put my S on the train, for the last two years I have supercharged down to Orlando. (Leave at 4am, arrive around 8pm)

@ Andrewket, PM me if you have any other questions

 

[andrewket]

We had the family sleeper for 4 as well. No scratches on the S.

I missed the part about no gullwing doors, but I suspect amtrak's concern is if the driver door is a gullwing.

It's too close for comfort. I'll probably just drive both ways or take the S.

 

[AMPUP]

We had the family sleeper for 4 as well. No scratches on the S.

I missed the part about no gullwing doors, but I suspect amtrak's concern is if the driver door is a gullwing.

It's too close for comfort. I'll probably just drive both ways or take the S.

As they don't use those rear doors I suspect they are concerned with getting out of the driver door, I don't think I would want to risk it if I had the X, I'm really careful and anal about by S, avoid Valet at all costs, I would be worried until the next day unload.

 

[MrBoylan]

We had the family sleeper for 4 as well. No scratches on the S.

I missed the part about no gullwing doors, but I suspect amtrak's concern is if the driver door is a gullwing.

It's too close for comfort. I'll probably just drive both ways or take the S.

It will fit. The X is not as tall as I am (6'0") with the FWDs closed. I think the specs says it's about 67" tall with doors closed at the default suspension height. Width would be tight but within the limits with mirrors closed. But yeah, I don't think I'd trust an X to a valet parking guy in such a tight space. So driving might be a better option. Also, I think a drive like this would be fun in the X. We drive NYC to northern GA every Christmas (800 Miles each way) in a Highlander with no auto-pilot, no USB ports, no Bluetooth, not even a line input on the stereo system. It would be so much cooler in an X. We generally stop half way in a hotel. You might consider doing the same and finding one with destination charging overnight so you start with a full charge in the morning and not worry about finding a supercharger before or after the overnight stop.

 

[andrewket]

I've done the drive before. Last year we decided to drive only one way, hence Amtrak. It was an interesting experience by itself.

There is a hotel with a supercharger almost in the middle. I'd have to go look it up to remember where it was. I-95 is a super easy supercharger trip.

I may send the family down on a plane and do the drive myself, and we'll all drive back. It would be a good opportunity to show the car to reservation holders without putting the rest of the family through hours of "tesla time". At any rate, I probably won't be the first person to take an X on the auto train

 

[bhzmark]

Hotel w supercharger outside charleston. That's a good stop. Consider put the family on the train and ap down there yourself with music and podcasts.

 

[DFibRL8R]

As they don't use those rear doors I suspect they are concerned with getting out of the driver door, I don't think I would want to risk it if I had the X, I'm really careful and anal about by S, avoid Valet at all costs, I would be worried until the next day unload.

Yes they will need to get out of and back into the vehicle while it is in the covered carrier so a gullwing drivers door might not work.
I took the A-train in 2014, the valets had no idea how to "start" the Model S to get it unloaded, took them about 10 minutes to finally get it off the train despite it being first in line. Speaking of which, I highly recommend paying for priority boarding or whatever they call it. It means you will be one of the first off when you arrive. The load/unload process takes hours. And the auto train seems to be chronically late since the freight trains it shares the rails with have priority. All in all it was interesting and can make for a fun alternative way to travel but between delays and long waits to load/unload it is actually faster to drive!

 

[andrewket]

Yes they will need to get out of and back into the vehicle while it is in the covered carrier so a gullwing drivers door might not work.
I took the A-train in 2014, the valets had no idea how to "start" the Model S to get it unloaded, took them about 10 minutes to finally get it off the train despite it being first in line. Speaking of which, I highly recommend paying for priority boarding or whatever they call it. It means you will be one of the first off when you arrive. The load/unload process takes hours. And the auto train seems to be chronically late since the freight trains it shares the rails with have priority. All in all it was interesting and can make for a fun alternative way to travel but between delays and long waits to load/unload it is actually faster to drive!

+1 on priority unloading. Worth every penny.

 

[stefaniewine]

I did this a coupe of years ago for a family trip in a Lincoln Navigator, I live in DC area so it was a simple 15 mins to the auto train station and it drops you off near Orlando.

Here was the process:

Arrive at a certain timeframe (I think it was mid afternoon)
You check in and they look around your vehicle and mark any damage
you unload what you need for the overnight train
The Valet drives your car (Crazy fast IMHO) up a ramp and into the back of the train (on a smaller vehicle they can get out of the door, on a larger they crack the window and climb out)
When you arrive the next day its the same process
they drive cars out and when yours comes out you go get it and drive off (can take 90 mins to get your car)

I had scratches on one of my door, that I noticed on the return trip it was painful dealing with them on the repair and ultimately i gave up and had them buffed out. (they weren't deep)
The trip was great, we had a sleeper cabin for 4, Everyone except myself slept (I do not sleep well on transport), Dinner, Drinks, Breakfast was all included as was a happy hour event.
You can also choose to not have a cabin for less $$ and sleep in a seat like a regular train.

I think it was approx $1400 return (including the Cabin).

I would NOT put my S on the train, for the last two years I have supercharged down to Orlando. (Leave at 4am, arrive around 8pm)

@ Andrewket, PM me if you have any other questions

How do you supercharge the whole way down? We tried this a few months ago- we left at 4am & thought we would arrive in Jupiter by 10pm or so…
It was much much longer than that.
The stops can take up to an hour to ‘supercharge’ and every few hours..
It kinda ruined the novelty of having the car…
Super frustrating how long it took us.

We have to go back this week & thought the auto train, but then thought so we put the model X on there???

 

[Xenoilphobe]

We are planning to go from Lorton VA to Sanford in two weeks. here is one persons experience, I would arrive early.

Here are the detailed specs for a Model X - Tesla Vehicle Comparison – TeslaTap