Some future buyers of Tesla Motors Inc.’s Model X are configuring their vehicles this week, as details about the electric-car maker’s much-awaited SUV emerge.
Among the highlights: A Model X “Signature” edition will cost $132,000 and as much as $144,000 with upgrades such as the “ludicrous speed” mode. The car will be able to go 385 km (240 miles) between charges, 7 miles more than a Model S P85D, the sedan’s top of the line, which starts at $108,000 but can also go north of $140,000 with upgrades.
With AWD via a 190 kw (259 hp) front motor and 370 kw (503 hp) rear motor giving an 'insane' total output of 560 kw (762 hp), the Model X Signature can accelerate to 100 km/h (60 mph) in 3.8 seconds, a tad slower than the Model S P85D’s 3.1 seconds. The Model X top speed of 155 mph is the same as the Model S P85D and others.
Tesla fans have posted several screenshots of their invitation-only Model X configuration Web pages on the Tesla Motors Club blog, a forum for Tesla enthusiasts that is independent of the company.
These future Model X owners were the first to put down a deposit on the Model X, which is expected to roll out of the Fremont, Calif., factory on 29th September. People reserving their Model X now would get the car in early 2016.
Here’s what else is known about the Model X:
The car’s rear-door falcon wings, which differ from the gull wings of yesteryear as they are better at negotiating tight spaces, will have sensors so they won’t bump into ceilings.
Accessories like a hitch for bikes or skis are standard. Also standard are parking sensors and blind-spot warning.
The Signature series will offer autopilot with self parking and automatic lane steering, and flat-folding third-row seats. The series’ second-row seats — which Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk called “a sculptural work of art” — will be “independently operable,” although it is not clear what that meant.
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The $10,000 “ludicrous” speed upgrade is also available for the Model X, as Musk had said. Other upgrades include a $1,000 subzero package, which comes with a heated steering wheel and a wiper-blade defroster, among other equipment, although Tesla warns that choosing that package could delay the car’s delivery by a month.
Those upgrades plus a $750 tow package push the price of the Model X Signature to $144,000.
