An SUV that doesn’t break a sweat keeping pace with a Porsche 911 Turbo? Yes please.
Elon Musk is one of those people, in these modern times, who has a penchant for commanding awe no matter what they do. Admittedly, the stuff he does is quite stupendous--from building reusable rockets to batteries that can power homes, it’s all potentially life changing really.
On the consumer level, his electric supercar the Tesla Model S has been breaking all kinds of records, even prompting reviewers to redefine their benchmarking standards. So when news of the new Tesla SUV--the Model X--began swirling around, many were naturally aflutter. That car was finally unveiled yesterday.
The first, unmistakably standout feature of this SUV is its Falcon-wing rear doors. These doors have built-in sensors preventing them from bumping into anything while unfurling up and outward, making it so evocative of the predatory bird. Seeing it in action is something else, because there’s nothing else like it really.
The Model X is being offered in two variants--the 90D and the P90D. The ‘P’ indicates the performance mode (boasting its infamous Ludicrous launch control mode), 90 is the capacity of its batteries in kilowatt-hours (kWh), and D is for its all-wheel drive. Even though this is a proper seven-seater with room for luggage, the high-end version of this car can propel its passengers from standstill to 100 Kmph in about 3.8 seconds, which is about the same as an Aston-Martin Vantage V12 S. Think about it for a moment--an SUV capable of moving that quickly. A terrifying thought no doubt.
Given its all-electric propulsion system it is a zero-emission vehicle, and it can go about 400 kilometers before needing a recharge. On the driver safety front the car brims with an array of camera, radar and sonar systems that scan the environment continually, making it capable of applying brakes in case of an emergency--on its own--even at highway speeds.
It is also perhaps one of the only cars that have a medical grade filter in its air conditioning system that strips air of pollen, bacteria and viruses before it enters the cabin. True to Tesla style, it’s even got a ‘bioweapon defense’ mode that actually creates a positive pressure within the cabin to protect its occupants--ideal when you’re rolling past that open swamp.
All of this, expectedly, doesn’t come cheap--the base price of this car is at about $100,000, with the top end touching a lofty $140,000. While some lucky owners already have the keys to their new SUVs, new reservations will be getting delivery of their SUVs in the second half of 2016.
See it in action in this video from The Verge here:
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 "Tesla Model X")
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