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Where is the Plaid Model X?

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I don't think Plaid would make sense on a >6k lbs SUV. Performance model is plenty fast already. The market for Plaid will be only a handful of buyers, and YouTubers. Don't think it'll make business sense to build one. Plaid S is more of a bragging rights car for Elon, and just to one-up Porsche mostly. Halo car to keep the branding and top crown, and media attention. Plaid X will not garner much attention after the release of Plaid S.

-ThinkMac-
 
I don't think Plaid would make sense on a >6k lbs SUV. Performance model is plenty fast already. The market for Plaid will be only a handful of buyers, and YouTubers. Don't think it'll make business sense to build one. Plaid S is more of a bragging rights car for Elon, and just to one-up Porsche mostly. Halo car to keep the branding and top crown, and media attention. Plaid X will not garner much attention after the release of Plaid S.

-ThinkMac-
Completely 100% agree.
 
I could see them doing the trimotor/Big Ass Battery setup planned for Plaid under the X. I dunno about calling it a "Plaid" per se, I think it might be more about adding range and payload/tow capability to X. Plod? Plaid is a very special word in the hearts of nerds, adn nerds are the key to success of a halo car (see youtuber comment above - nerds, and I don't mean people who occasionally like to talk about how bad the Star Wars prequels were, I mean people who are seriously just THE WORST at parties because they won't stop steering the conversation toward cars are the gatekeepers of automotive coolness, now more than ever). I hope their branding people realize it has real legs to signal the highest-performance version of the vehicle, now that all the Spaceball-philes are getting old and have some cash.

The current Performance versions are, nutty as they are compared to what we used to think of as "fast" (I need a 10-second car by tonight!? lol ok today Paul WAlker would rent something for Dom on Turo) IMO, more like the "mid-level" performance cars the Germans make now, M340i, C43AMG, M550i, X7 M50i, that kind of thing. Yes the Teslas are much quicker than those cars, or even the true top-spec AMG/M-cars, but there is so much untapped potential. Tesla hasn't even scratched the surface on lightweighting its cars, or putting big tires and zero-lift aero on them the way Porsche came straight out the gate on the Taycan (well, except for the lightweighting part, holy jeez).

So much potential, will be fun to watch
 
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I would be in the market for a Plaid X. Not for the speed but for the range. I want an X but can't take the range hit. We have a 210-mile round trip that we need to do on 1 charge even in the winter. It's mostly Interstate so high speed. Yes, I could slow down but it's already a long day. Going to an SC would add over an hour to the trip.

I guess it depends on how much work it is to build the Plaid S. If the skateboard is the same the changes would be minor. And if they could sell some number at a crazy margin, why not do it?
 
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I don't think Plaid would make sense on a >6k lbs SUV. ... Plaid X will not garner much attention after the release of Plaid S.
-ThinkMac-

Completely 100% agree.

Nonsense. Cybertruck is coming in Plaid so size has nothing to do with it.

It looks more like they are going to phase out the Model X completely after Cybertruck.

If both Cybertruck and Model X came with Plaid options, I would choose Cybertruck only if it came with amphibious mode.

0UKi2W_0NYTnBlf00
 
Nonsense. Cybertruck is coming in Plaid so size has nothing to do with it.

It looks more like they are going to phase out the Model X completely after Cybertruck.

If both Cybertruck and Model X came with Plaid options, I would choose Cybertruck only if it came with amphibious mode.

0UKi2W_0NYTnBlf00
I am not sure why coming out with the Cybertruck has anything to do with a "phase out" of the Model X. They are not competing in the same category and will not be built at the same factory. The Model X is a signature vehicle. Would be a mistake to discontinue - how would Space X get their astronauts to the launch pad?
 
I am not sure why coming out with the Cybertruck has anything to do with a "phase out" of the Model X. They are not competing in the same category and will not be built at the same factory. The Model X is a signature vehicle. Would be a mistake to discontinue - how would Space X get their astronauts to the launch pad?

Well, they would have to figure out how to build it at half the price. Why would anybody buy less car for more money? The X has, really, nothing, on Cybertruck, that can't be fulfilled by Cybertruck if that was the only option (except 7 seats, but, ...).
 
I have never liked the X, and the CT has much more compelling options and value; real off-road capabilities, ground clearance, stainless, real cargo capacity, real towing capacity and it fits my lifestyle better.
Well then I suspect you are happy they are coming out with the CT. And your words actually prove what I said - they do not really compete against each other. The CT will be built in Texas and the X in California. I have an X. I have no desire to have a CT. I believe there is room for both.
 
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Well then I suspect you are happy they are coming out with the CT. And your words actually prove what I said - they do not really compete against each other. The CT will be built in Texas and the X in California. I have an X. I have no desire to have a CT. I believe there is room for both.

The X was marketed as an SUV, not a minivan, my wife and I have owned 3 Model S's, looked at the X when it came out and neither one of us could stomach the "design".

I am sure the X is great for the older folks who have a need for the door open assist and higher seating position and those families with very small children. Once those kids hit their teens that thing would be too tight for our lifestyle, add in a dog, gear, bikes, coolers and friends or family members and you are over the ~1400 lb weight capacity and cubic out way before that with only 26 CF of space behind the 3rd row.

I never understood the market for the X, with the exception that for business owners you could get the Section 179 tax write off due to the 6768 GVWR and the Model S was ~ 3 lbs shy of the GVWR with the 3rd row seats ...dont ask me why I know....;)

So the CT and X qualify for Section 179, but the CT has ~4X the cargo capacity of the X; 100 CF vs 26 CF, Passenger volume is 94 CF in the X, we don't know what it is in the CT yet, but I bet is close, the CT has greater than twice the weight carrying capacity 3500lbs vs 1400lbs, close to double the range of the X and 3 X the towing capacity of the X at ~14000 lbs vs less than 5000 lbs. The CT can carry 6 Adults vs 7 "Adults" for the X, but the CT costs almost half as much.

My words prove that the CT is a superior product in almost all measures.... why would they keep X? The fact that its built in Texas is a bonus too, as that has a direct impact on ROS for Tesla and low cost to the buyer.

If I were the CEO the X would be the first cut I would make for profitability and to develop the real SUV off the CT platform that everyone wanted in the first place... The abysmal annual sales, when they are the only "SUV" EV in the market is screaming for a better product, the Model S also needs an update, which when combined with the release of the Model 3 and Y are impacting the S and X sales as well.

I can't personally see why anyone would consider anything else in their line-up when you have a large family and are very active outdoors. (jet skis, ATV's, hunting, camping etc..) The product is heads above the S, 3 and Y with incredible utility for many who are not driving Tesla's today.

Source: Tesla Model X US car sales figures
 
The X was marketed as an SUV, not a minivan, my wife and I have owned 3 Model S's, looked at the X when it came out and neither one of us could stomach the "design".

I am sure the X is great for the older folks who have a need for the door open assist and higher seating position and those families with very small children. Once those kids hit their teens that thing would be too tight for our lifestyle, add in a dog, gear, bikes, coolers and friends or family members and you are over the ~1400 lb weight capacity and cubic out way before that with only 26 CF of space behind the 3rd row.

I never understood the market for the X, with the exception that for business owners you could get the Section 179 tax write off due to the 6768 GVWR and the Model S was ~ 3 lbs shy of the GVWR with the 3rd row seats ...dont ask me why I know....;) snip*

S179 was the ONLY reason I opted for the X over the S or Y.
 
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We have a W212 Mercedes E-class in the garage next to Model X. It's striking sitting nxt to the W212 how much Model X isn't much bigger than an E-class, in outside dimensions, with the suspension adjusted low obviously. This endears it to me in a great many ways, as until this car I was daily-driving a Tundra and generally can't stand tall-car dynamics. Yeah it's a little taller, and a little longer, and a bit wider too, but it's still just a slightly overgrown car; just slightly overgrown enough to be a 3-row. If I had to come up with a size comparison that best fits it, I'd say, imagine an E-class wagon with a little more headroom, a little more shoulder room, and the jump seats flipped to forward facing. Now imagine the doors are the stupidest thing you can possibly think of. No, stupider than that. No no, you're still thinking of regular doors, imagine Rube Goldberg did some acid after being asked to design some car doors that would cause a lot of head injuries.

For a lot of people, the conversation ends at "not enough seats for what we think we want the car to do" even though this thing is definitely not really meant to be a minivan, beacuse minivans are MUCH more practical and easy to use, it's the closest thing you can get to an AMG Wagon with 7 seats since they don't sell that rear-facing seat in the AMG's anymore. It packs AMG-like performance and 7 seats with room for crap into a smaller footprint than an S-class or 7-series. Not such a bad consolation prize, but NOT a pickup truck, NOT a big-box SUV like a Tahoe. It's really, IMO, more like a wagon in terms of space and size. Which is a Good Thing if you want a wagon, not so great if you want it to be a Tahoe or a GLS.

For me, CyberTruck (which I submitted a pre-order for!) is not yet a compelling package because I tow a big box trailer with the Tundra, and CT is probably going to need at least one 1.5-hour stop to charge even in top trim to get me and my trailer to any of my usual tow destinations. I'd rather just rent a gas pickup once a in a while than deal with pickup truck dimensions all the time in traffic and parking lots and my garage and etc. But I'm also very interested to see where it actually lands dimension-wise. If it's somewhere near the Rivian, but with a longer wheelbase and short rear overhang for towing stabliity, that's a pretty sweet sweet spot. The big manufacturers have overshot the sweet spot on size for pickup trucks, with Ranger and Colorado and Taco being almost as big as the old 1/2-tons used to be, and the 1/2-tons now so capable they can literally easily tow 800+ square feet of house around to campsites.

If Tesla goes closer to Rivian on size, I think it's even more likely Model X will end up on the cutting room floor and/or its replacement will end up being a LWB variant of Model Y
 
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We have a W212 Mercedes E-class in the garage next to Model X. It's striking sitting nxt to the W212 how much Model X isn't much bigger than an E-class, in outside dimensions, with the suspension adjusted low obviously. This endears it to me in a great many ways, as until this car I was daily-driving a Tundra and generally can't stand tall-car dynamics. Yeah it's a little taller, and a little longer, and a bit wider too, but it's still just a slightly overgrown car; just slightly overgrown enough to be a 3-row. If I had to come up with a size comparison that best fits it, I'd say, imagine an E-class wagon with a little more headroom, a little more shoulder room, and the jump seats flipped to forward facing. Now imagine the doors are the stupidest thing you can possibly think of. No, stupider than that. No no, you're still thinking of regular doors, imagine Rube Goldberg did some acid after being asked to design some car doors that would cause a lot of head injuries.

For a lot of people, the conversation ends at "not enough seats for what we think we want the car to do" even though this thing is definitely not really meant to be a minivan, beacuse minivans are MUCH more practical and easy to use, it's the closest thing you can get to an AMG Wagon with 7 seats since they don't sell that rear-facing seat in the AMG's anymore. It packs AMG-like performance and 7 seats with room for crap into a smaller footprint than an S-class or 7-series. Not such a bad consolation prize, but NOT a pickup truck, NOT a big-box SUV like a Tahoe. It's really, IMO, more like a wagon in terms of space and size. Which is a Good Thing if you want a wagon, not so great if you want it to be a Tahoe or a GLS.

For me, CyberTruck (which I submitted a pre-order for!) is not yet a compelling package because I tow a big box trailer with the Tundra, and CT is probably going to need at least one 1.5-hour stop to charge even in top trim to get me and my trailer to any of my usual tow destinations. I'd rather just rent a gas pickup once a in a while than deal with pickup truck dimensions all the time in traffic and parking lots and my garage and etc. But I'm also very interested to see where it actually lands dimension-wise. If it's somewhere near the Rivian, but with a longer wheelbase and short rear overhang for towing stabliity, that's a pretty sweet sweet spot. The big manufacturers have overshot the sweet spot on size for pickup trucks, with Ranger and Colorado and Taco being almost as big as the old 1/2-tons used to be, and the 1/2-tons now so capable they can literally easily tow 800+ square feet of house around to campsites.

If Tesla goes closer to Rivian on size, I think it's even more likely Model X will end up on the cutting room floor and/or its replacement will end up being a LWB variant of Model Y
That was actually one of the best comparisons that I have ever read. I was the former owner of a Passat Diesel Wagon, and now that you point out the obvious... its obvious, the X is more wagon like and less SUV like, but with the insane AMG performance.

I am hoping the CT is good enough in the handling department for a guy that's cooling off my aggressive driving now that I am over 50... but you make some damn good points. I agree that a bigger Y would also be an amazing hit for Tesla.
 
I never understood the market for the X,

I guess that pretty much sums it up. I'm not sure why you have such a difficulty allowing people to be different than you. Different people like different things! For me, I hope to have a model X and a cybertruck sitting right next to each other. They both have their uses, and I think I'd love them both.
 
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I guess that pretty much sums it up. I'm not sure why you have such a difficulty allowing people to be different than you. Different people like different things! For me, I hope to have a model X and a cybertruck sitting right next to each other. They both have their uses, and I think I'd love them both.

Agreed. So someone doesn't like the X - don't buy one. But there is zero chance my wife would want a CT or the S or the Y or the 3. She likes her X. Now if it was for men I would buy the S and none of the others. Choice is a good thing.
 
Agreed. So someone doesn't like the X - don't buy one. But there is zero chance my wife would want a CT or the S or the Y or the 3. She likes her X. Now if it was for men I would buy the S and none of the others. Choice is a good thing.

thanks for agreeing, but as a man, and I an S owner, I still would prefer an X. I guess I'm past that "need to have a sleek car" age. Or maybe I'm just a nerd. That's a possibility too. :)