Tesla for the day

Top Gear has articles by Sam Philip about Tesla:

Well, you didn’t expect Musk to come out in defense of fossil-fuelers, did you? Elon Musk, boss of Tesla and full-time electric car evangelist, has told reporters the Volkswagen emissions scandal demonstrates that manufacturers have ‘reached the limit’ of conventional fuels.
Speaking in Belgium, Musk was asked whether the emissions scandal, which has revealed some eleven million VW Group diesels running a fraudulent ‘defeat device’ to lower emissions of nitrous oxides to legal levels on the official test cycle, would cause consumers to ‘lose their faith’ in green technology.
“I think it’s the opposite,” stated Musk. “What Volkswagen is really showing is that we’ve reached the limit of what’s possible with diesel and gasoline. The time has come to move to a new generation of technology.”
Though Musk didn’t say so explicitly, there’s no question that ‘new generation’, for him, takes the form of battery power. Tesla’s current flagship is the Model S P85D (photo above), a 691 bhp all-electric four-door officially capable of 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds, and a potential range of three hundred miles between charges.
Having recently tested the P85D at Austria’s Red Bull Ring, we very much wouldn’t dispute the first of these two claims. The second, of course, rather depends how often you’re doing 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds.

 

Earlier this month, Musk announced the first examples of Tesla’s Model X (photo, above), a ‘falcon-winged’ seven-seat crossover, would roll off the company’s Fremont, California factory line before the end of September of 2015. Model X prices will start at $76,200 in the States, rising to $132,000 for the fully-loaded ‘Signature Series’ edition.
Musk also confirmed that Tesla would soon ‘start investigating’ potential European locations to manufacture both cars and batteries. “In the long term, there’s no question that we need to do local production in Europe, of both cars and battery packs,” he revealed. “At some point, maybe some time next year or so, we’ll start investigating potential locations.” The Tesla Model X – the Californian firm’s second mainstream model, following the Model S saloon – is a four-wheel drive, seven-seat, 762bhp electric crossover capable of 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds. Those extraordinary power and performance claims first: like the Model S, the top-spec Model X is driven by an electric motor on each axle, the one at the front producing 259bhp, the one at the rear 503bhp.
They create combined torque of 713 lb ft,  all available from 0rpm, naturally, and endow the Model X with a 0-60 time of just over three seconds and a quarter-mile time of 11.7 seconds. Admittedly you’ll have to upgrade your Model X to ‘Ludicrous’ spec in order to unlock that extraordinary acceleration figure: in standard guise, the 0-60 time is a yawning, um, 3.8 seconds.
The ‘Signature’ Model X, the only version available at launch, comes equipped with a 90kWh battery, good for an official range of 250 miles. Whether you achieve this figure will rather depend on how you drive. Rather like those antiquated ‘mpg’ stats from petrol and diesel cars.
The Model X weighs in at 2468kg, around 400 kilos north of, say, the new Audi Q7 equipped with a 3.0-litre TDI. But Tesla is keen to point out that the vast majority of that weight sits low in the car (the battery is mounted below the floor) so the Model X shouldn’t tilt in the corners.
In fact, Tesla reckons the absence of a traditional combustion engine should help make the Model X ‘the safest car on the road’. Though it has yet to undergo official crash testing, the company states its own tests ‘indicate the Model X will receive a five-star safety rating in all categories, the first SUV ever to do so’.
Those gullwing doors are fitted, says Tesla, not for ostentation, but to make it easier for parents to put kids into the back of the Model X.
The Model X is the first production car to get a medical-grade high-efficiency particulate (HEPA) filter, ensuring only the cleanest air flows into the cabin. Until you open a window, of course.
And with a forward-facing camera, radar, and sonar sensors fitted, the Model X is primed for autonomous driving: Tesla says over-the-air updates will improve the sophistication of these features going forward, with the aim of making the car effectively capable of driving itself over the next few years.
The Model X is slated to reach showrooms this winter, though we suspect the waiting list to get one on your plug-point-equipped driveway might be rather longer.
Official pricing for the range is yet to be announced, but we know the fully-loaded Signature Edition will cost $132,000 in the US. Base versions will be significantly cheaper.

Asked by a Danish paper when a Tesla vehicle would break the thousand-kilometer mark’, in other words, managing 620 miles on a single charge, Musk replied, “I’d say 2017 for sure.”  

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