Reactions to Model X reveal event

[JFitzDen]

I think you've missed the most important partners of all -- Tesla workers. Shareholders (disclosure: I'm one) put some money down expecting profit -- whoopee. Customers put money down expecting a product -- whoopee, they get a fantastic world-changing (albeit expensive!) product. Supporters type words on a screen -- whoopee. IMO these are all like the proverbial breakfast chicken -- they're "involved" by giving some eggs of varying value. Tesla workers however put their sweat, effort, worries, and living under daily pressure to get the job done, right. They're like the breakfast pig - not involved, but "committed".

You're absolutely right! My MS is a fantastic vehicle made possible by hundreds (thousands maybe?) of Tesla workers who put their all into creating this work of art. THANK YOU to all the Tesla workers who create magic every day!

 

[aesculus]

All the naysayers saying Tesla needs to sub Musk out sound like they have never heard or watched him give a presentation. He didn't seem uncomfortable to me at all. That was standard Elon. He even got to have a little fun with the bioweapon defense button. The "outrage" over the presentation and tardiness is ridiculous (ludicrous even?). This is how Tesla operates. The product will always be great. If you want a sleek presentation go watch any product not worth a damn get unveiled. I look forward to the production ramp and all the haters being silenced, again.

People at the event were not happy about the tardiness. But I heard no one complain of Elon's presentation style or speaking ability. I think everyone was comfortable with it and it was expected. Everyone cut him slack in that regard.

 

[MrBoylan]

I thought it was significant that during the test rides, nobody was allowed to sit in the rear seats. Likewise, nobody was allowed to sit in the second row middle seat.

I wouldn't say, "not allowed" but maybe "not encouraged." They were putting 3 passengers in per test ride so front passenger and 2nd row edge seats - probably for maximum rider comfort. But if you asked to sit in the third row or had a larger group, they would let you sit there for the test ride. The guy in front of us did that: did his test ride in the 3rd row. I spent some time in Elon's rear seat and found it comfortable enough (made sure to ask someone to close the rear hatch so I would get the real experience). My kids (10 and 11) will love it back there... as long as it has USB ports (I didn't notice). When someone moved the second row seats all the way back, it did crunch up my knees but I could still fit. It's not a full size minivan or an Escalade, but nor does it drive like either of those (nor does it use any gas like those).

 

[Stoneymonster]

Whether market share or profit share, it's still a focus on numbers versus the innovation of the actual products. I think Tesla is arguably innovating at a much faster scale than Apple has in a long time, at least judging by the products each company is putting out. But it's easy for us to debate this - we aren't in the thick of it!

Yeah, I think much of Apple's innovation is hidden in improving mass production processes these days (which makes sense with Cook in charge). That and things like their ARM microarchitecture which is definitely impressive work. Tesla is still doing things that the customer can see obviously and are "moon shots". They are going to have to change a bit when producing millions of cars.

 

[P90D]

A better presentation would have been:

Stephen Colbert drives out in a cleverly disguised fake Model X, whips the crowd up into a frenzy, and then one of the falcon wing doors falls off. Elon Musk walks out to cheers, says "I can fix that!" and picks up the styrofoam door and sticks it back onto the fake Model X with velcro. Then he says, "perhaps you'd like to see a real Model X, Stephen?" Turns to the crown and shouts enthusiastically, "You wanna see the REAL Model X?!?" To cacophonous cheers, the white Model X rolls out. The driver gets out, the front passenger gets out, the falcon wing doors open, and then 15 people from Cirque du Soleil, some dogs, and a monkey get out in a hilarious never-ending stream.

Now that everyone's having a good time, things turn serious. Elon introduces the Model X towing the AirStream with the family and luggage getting out like we saw. "And that's no joke, folks. It's the real thing! It can hold seven people, plus luggage, plus tow up to 5,000 pounds, and doesn't emit one molecule of hazardous exhaust!"

Then he asks, "Would you like to know a little bit more about this SUV?" Cheers erupt. "Great! Let me bring on [charismatic person #1] to give you some great information about some exciting features, and then I'll be back shortly to give you a cool demonstration.

[charismatic person #1] walks on the stage and talks about the range, the acceleration, the windshield, the interior appointments, the available options, and how it compares in size to ICE SUVs.

The Elon comes back out and gives the falcon wing door presentation, including the "parked too close on either side" demo. Except this time the driver exits the vehicle through the Falcon Wing Door opening to show it's possible.

Then Elon introduces [charismatic person #2, this time a woman] to come out and talk about safety features, child seats, Auto Pilot (or adaptive cruise), heated and cooled seats, and the air filtration system.

Elon comes out at the end and expands upon the filtration system, announcing the Biohazard (not "Bioweapon!") Defense Mode button, and that it's a real thing.

Then he asks for the VIN 6-2 cars to drive out together, and in one fell swoop - to sustained applause - hands over the keys to each person quickly and efficiently, and they all get in their cars and get driven off.

Then just as everyone thinks it's ending, Elon asks for his VIN 1 car to come out and says, "There's one more thing..." to thunderous cheers.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be that razzle dazzle "one more thing" last night, so one can only imagine what that could have been (electrochromic windows? 360-degree cameras for parking, dash cam, and night vision? etc.) I guess at this point he could discuss price ($5,000 more than the Model S) rather than tweeting out that info hours later and hoping the press disseminates it...



I totally agree with that.

The event logistics were one thing: poorly conceived and disastrously flubbed on the night, but the car itself is great and the presentation was fine; I think it's illogical and unfair to conflate the two. The beers were cold, the gin was okay, too. The wait staff were doing their best and severely understaffed. The people around me were polite. It was okay. Being that late, was not cool, but who knows what was going on behind that stage at the last minute.
As noted, Musk has a way of speaking and that's that. I'm not impressed by Apple or Google presentation polish. I'm tired of hearing these skilled presenters disingenuously bloviating their way through the Thesaurus of superlatives when, hell, it's a phone and a stylus. Sheesh. Now, this ... this is a hot rod SUV that's not a damn boring minivan and does a lot of things very well -- that's something to get excited about! So, I think the marketing of the product for Tesla should have been more polished (better than a slide stack talk) and each of the clever stage ideas you've given all would have at least gotten a chuckle and applause out of me. Keep in mind Tesla simply can't afford an hour of Stephen Colbert's time any more. I imagine it was not cheap to even get Elon Musk on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for his initial appearance, and you have to suspect the X could have been going to be a "prop" for that visit, but plans fell through.
I especially like the idea of Colbert being customer #1 in something like a Prius with the rear doors lopped off and bolted on with coach bolts and garden gate hinges falling off onto the ground, etc. Maybe a visible remote control toy car "hidden" underneath providing the source of propulsion, etc.

 

[MrBoylan]

Outer door handles (front and rear) are flush and remain that way - not presenting. Everything is electronic and motorized. There is a third FWD operating button toward the bottom of the door on the inside (I believe), which is probably the one you would use to close the open FWD from outside. The FW doors are also controllable from the center console touch screen.

Not sure how the mechanical overrides will work if/when the car loses power but this is probably something a delivery specialist would cover with buyers. I didn't try opening the doors from inside. Or if I did, it was so intuitive that I didn't even notice.

 

[StephRob]

How many of those criticizing the Model X today are actually women?

I am. I'm pretty sure I'm smack in their sweet spot for desired demographic, except that my kids are no longer in car seats. (Mother of three kids, concerned about climate change and environment, affluent, already a Tesla proponent - some would say evangelist for the S) Not nearly enough information was given last night about the X for me to configure my Signature reservation so today I went to my local Tesla store and cancelled that reservation. Now, that's not quite as dramatic as it sounds because I still have a remaining reservation for a production X. Whether or not I purchase an X or cancel that reservation will depend on a number of factors that still have to be demonstrated to me.

As I said earlier, the one thing that did impress me about the car was: the windshield. Very cool.

The things that did not impress me were:
- the second row seats (I seriously hate those seats and would far prefer just a regular second row that folds flat)
- the shiny black plastic seat backs (those are going to look awful under regular use - scratches, scuffs, fingerprints - I also just think they look tacky)
- the general lack of spaciousness (my husband sat in the middle seat second row and he thought it felt much more cramped than the middle seat in the second row of our S's which have pano roofs. He said the falcon wing mechanism takes up a lot of headroom. The third row looked extremely cramped for the occupants)
- And do I even need to go into how utterly awful the entire event was? Seriously, 3000 of your best customers were there, Elon. Your time is not worth more than ours collectively. I really admire you, but get over yourself already. Left an extremely bad taste in my mouth (aside from the scant, inedible food) which was slightly mitigated by my getting my $40K back.

So, I still don't know whether I'll purchase an X or not. I need to look at it closely and spend some real time with it before I can decide whether it is more suitable for me than the fabulous car I already have - the Tesla Model S. But I'm leaning against it at this point.

Other thoughts regarding last night:
- I thought Elon's actual presentation style was fine. That's how the guy speaks. Who cares if he's not the world's best orator. I think it's actually rather charming. What I did object to (aside from the unforgivable lateness) was the content of his speech. Fine to start with safety I guess, but should have been a more minor part. The air filter stuff was bizarre. I don't really care. Market that to China, not me. The rest of it just glossed over what we really want to know, which was the function of the actual car. How much space does it have? How flexible is that space? Why did you choose to have those second row seats instead of more conventional seats? (This is what I really want answered and I guess I'll just have to answer for myself when I can actually spend some time with the car. I just don't understand those seats.)
- They absolutely without question should have had 10 of those vehicles on the event floor for people to see and interact with. It was ridiculous to push and shove in the scrum trying to get to see Elon's car.
- I was so sad to see Bonnie's post earlier that she wasn't able to see the car close up and had to leave before she got a chance to do so. Of all people, that woman should have been treated like a VIP!
- Everything about last night was poor. I could go through it in excruciating detail, but others have. It was seriously horrible. As my husband said, this was not the way to treat your best customers. He's a very patient guy (much more so than me) and he was not at all happy either.

Edit: I guess I should mention why I want an X since I am already happy with my S. For times when I'm driving field trips or carpools and I need seven seats, I have a old Land Rover. I'd really love to get rid of that car and was hoping that the X would do it. But I can get a lot of people and cargo in that car (plus the dog). We'll see . . .

 

[JohnSnowNW]

So not true. I get that in ordinary driving conditions, when making an evasive driving maneuver, or a crash of the type the Insurance Institute tests for, the car is very unlikely to roll over. But if it's driven off the road and over and down a steep embankment, it can most certainly roll over - and end up on its back - just like any other car.

Yes, and in that scenario a conventional door-ed vehicle would most likely sustain damage that would disallow opening of the doors. Also, I'm not thinking the sliding doors of a van would offer much egress potential.

 

[iKhalid]

As an engineer and a techie, I was impressed! I really appreciated the engineering they put in it! You would get way more value for the dollar buying the Model X. I really don't get the people who're criticizing the look or the size. Don't forget how complicated the design is and how they wanted it to be aerodynamic given the size of the battery and Tesla's minimum standards. I never thought I would ever consider the Model X but now I know I want it at some point!

Many people hate any change on how things are normally done (doors, windshield, rear seats, etc) and I get that. But I think that doesn't make the car bad and we should give Tesla some credit. As for the poor presentation, yes it was really bad. But if that was the only downside of Tesla or Elon in General, then I don't care. It will be forgotten over the time but the car and the technology will remain. I personally care about the content and how hard they tried. Yesterday's presentation was exactly the opposite of what we're used to see from Apple. I still remember how great that keynote when they introduced the iPhone 5, and how average and way behind the hardware was compared to the other flagship phones. Yet people went all over it.

In a few months, the Model X will grow on you guys when you start seeing it around, when you test drive it, and/or when you watch 3rd party reviews. Ohh, and when other car manufacturers start copying some or all of its main features.

 

[ecarfan]

We are all entitled to our opinions. Don't cross the line criticizing other people's opinions!

And my post, which you quoted, said exactly that: "You of course are welcome to your own opinion." So I am unclear on what you are upset about.

To the OP: my opinion is the X looks great, I like the new nose. It's the best looking SUV on the market, by far. Love the way the Falcon Wings work, they are an impressive engineering achievement.
You of course are welcome to your own opinion. Which you appear to have stated in multiple threads.

 

[MrBoylan]

+1 Couldn't agree more. What scares me is that the same people that created the event last night, also have a hand in designing a very sophisticated piece of machinery. It was an embarrassment and will be the last Tesla event I attend. My reservation is in the 16,000 range, and I'm betting I won't be configuring until 2017.

Engineers and designers envision and build the cars, marketing people plan and execute the events, most likely being micromanaged by Musk the whole time. I had a view backstage and saw that Elon was actually going over the presentation in the back while we were all waiting in the front area. He normally just wings it without rehearsal, so it's actually possible that the reason it was so late was because one of the marketing folks finally convinced him to practice his presentation once so he would be comfortable with it. In rehearsal, he had a Model X with a surfboard on top, but that didn't make it to the final presentation. I did post a pic on our twitter feed which I captured through an large opening in the curtains. Not a great shot though as it was from afar:

Photos and videos by BigPictureBigSound (@bpbs) | Twitter

-CB

- - - Updated - - -

It is very strange that they seemed to avoid letting anyone fold down the 3rd row. I am starting to wonder if to fold the 3rd row seats down, the 2nd row needs to be pushed all the way forward. This would mean to haul any significant cargo, the car becomes a 2 seater. Does anyone have any pics or video of the third row folded down?

Huh? Elon left his car on the stage for us to play around with for 3 hours. There was a whole lot of folding going on. The third rows seats fold flat independently and pretty easily. There is a very discrete button (enclosed within the fabric of the seat) at the top of the seat that disengages the lock so the seat can fold. The headrests fold down so the folded rear seats create a flat deck with a clean front line that the middle row can be tucked right up against, with plenty of legroom in the middle row.

 

[mwg]

Can you show us the clear stereoscopic cameras in the windshield? I only saw speculation on a couple blurry pixels in one photo of a white X. You say "images" so I'd love to see all the sources.

EDIT: Identified by Stoneymonster as a single AP camera and rain sensor for wiper.

 

[Merrill]

How many of those criticizing the Model X today are actually women?

I am. I'm pretty sure I'm smack in their sweet spot for desired demographic, except that my kids are no longer in car seats. (Mother of three kids, concerned about climate change and environment, affluent, already a Tesla proponent - some would say evangelist for the S) Not nearly enough information was given last night about the X for me to configure my Signature reservation so today I went to my local Tesla store and cancelled that reservation. Now, that's not quite as dramatic as it sounds because I still have a remaining reservation for a production X. Whether or not I purchase an X or cancel that reservation will depend on a number of factors that still have to be demonstrated to me.

As I said earlier, the one thing that did impress me about the car was: the windshield. Very cool.

The things that did not impress me were:
- the second row seats (I seriously hate those seats and would far prefer just a regular second row that folds flat)
- the shiny black plastic seat backs (those are going to look awful under regular use - scratches, scuffs, fingerprints - I also just think they look tacky)
- the general lack of spaciousness (my husband sat in the middle seat second row and he thought it felt much more cramped than the middle seat in the second row of our S's which have pano roofs. He said the falcon wing mechanism takes up a lot of headroom. The third row looked extremely cramped for the occupants)
- And do I even need to go into how utterly awful the entire event was? Seriously, 3000 of your best customers were there, Elon. Your time is not worth more than ours collectively. I really admire you, but get over yourself already. Left an extremely bad taste in my mouth (aside from the scant, inedible food) which was slightly mitigated by my getting my $40K back.

So, I still don't know whether I'll purchase an X or not. I need to look at it closely and spend some real time with it before I can decide whether it is more suitable for me than the fabulous car I already have - the Tesla Model S. But I'm leaning against it at this point.

Other thoughts regarding last night:
- I thought Elon's actual presentation style was fine. That's how the guy speaks. Who cares if he's not the world's best orator. I think it's actually rather charming. What I did object to (aside from the unforgivable lateness) was the content of his speech. Fine to start with safety I guess, but should have been a more minor part. The air filter stuff was bizarre. I don't really care. Market that to China, not me. The rest of it just glossed over what we really want to know, which was the function of the actual car. How much space does it have? How flexible is that space? Why did you choose to have those second row seats instead of more conventional seats? (This is what I really want answered and I guess I'll just have to answer for myself when I can actually spend some time with the car. I just don't understand those seats.)
- They absolutely without question should have had 10 of those vehicles on the event floor for people to see and interact with. It was ridiculous to push and shove in the scrum trying to get to see Elon's car.
- I was so sad to see Bonnie's post earlier that she wasn't able to see the car close up and had to leave before she got a chance to do so. Of all people, that woman should have been treated like a VIP!
- Everything about last night was poor. I could go through it in excruciating detail, but others have. It was seriously horrible. As my husband said, this was not the way to treat your best customers. He's a very patient guy (much more so than me) and he was not at all happy either.

Edit: I guess I should mention why I want an X since I am already happy with my S. For times when I'm driving field trips or carpools and I need seven seats, I have a old Land Rover. I'd really love to get rid of that car and was hoping that the X would do it. But I can get a lot of people and cargo in that car (plus the dog). We'll see . . .

I agree with most of what you said, standing for over 2 hours was excruciating. No room and my wife who this car is for could not even see anything that went on over everyone in front of us, the stage should have been elevated or we should have been able to sit down. I will still wait to see and drive the car when it becomes available and then make a decision. I very much want Tesla to succeed in there vision and love my model s, my dream is to have no ICE in my garage so will over look some missteps by a start up company in hopes that they can get to the mass market automobile.

 

[Ugliest1]

Model X ... has a less than stellar 250 mile range, so it's a town car, not a tourer, ...

So, I'm just going to go ahead and disagree in the most strongly way possible with this statement. I note your handle, so, do you already have a Model S and road trips have not worked out for you? Road trips have certainly worked out great for us, in fact we wouldn't do them in an ICE because of all the inherent disadvantages compared to the Model S. So, I speak from experience (see signature)... with respect, do you?

 

[MrBoylan]

the Model X has a feature where the doors fully open automatically when you approach it (aka not just unlock it, but unlock & open) . therefore, this guy after leaving the stage was still too close with the key fob (or the key fob was still inside) and the door opened automatically. that's not going to be cool when your park your X in a garage or at work or at the mall or at home in your driveway and you walk away and the X mistakenly automatically opens up and offer's it's contents to passersby.

Gee, wouldn't it be great if there were a software fix for that which they would roll out before shipping to the masses? Oh wait...

 

[Stoneymonster]

That's a single AP camera and the rain sensor for the wipers. My S looks much the same.

 

[MrBoylan]

Do we have any reports from people who got to test drive one last night?

We didn't get to drive it, but to ride in it (like the D event, I believe). This car stuck to the road like glue. I can believe it has the lowest roll-over risk. It's the opposite of a Suzuki Samurai. Our driver took corners at action movie speeds without any distress. Acceleration was insane (duh). The cars were all P90D with insane mode (not ludicrous mode). I can't even imagine how quick the ludicrous ones will be because insane was more than I need (but I did enjoy it). Middle seat comfort was fine. Didn't try to do much with the seats other than move them forward and back (which worked fine). That front pana windshield is da bomb! You feel like you're in a bubble with awesome visibility. Can't wait to drive ours on the back roads in the Adirondacks.

Between runs (with no passengers inside) they drove the X with both Falcon Wing Doors open - quite a trip to look right through the car like that. It would make a great parade car or pope-mobile (though the current pope would consider it too ostentatious... then again it does solve global warming so maybe he'll make an exception?). I'd say buyers will not be disappointed with the ride. It's really similar to the S in that respect.

-CB

 

[ptsagcy]

@ Judge Advocate - We get it - after saying it 3 times, you don't like the car. You are entitled to your opinion but we don't need to listen to your whining over and over again. Get your deposit back, if you ever had one, and go buy something else. Let the rest of us enjoy the best SUV/CUV ever built.:cursing:

 

[eloder]

the Model X has a feature where the doors fully open automatically when you approach it (aka not just unlock it, but unlock & open) . therefore, this guy after leaving the stage was still too close with the key fob (or the key fob was still inside) and the door opened automatically. that's not going to be cool when your park your X in a garage or at work or at the mall or at home in your driveway and you walk away and the X mistakenly automatically opens up and offer's it's contents to passersby.

Just disable the feature then.

 

[MrBoylan]

A better presentation...

You, my friend, should be in event marketing. Bravo.