NO RANGE ANXIETY IN TESLA MODEL X
SUV a driving delight in electric road trip up California’s curvy coastline
MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIF. California’s stunning northern coastline is the perfect place to unplug for a few days — unless you’re driving this otherworldly SUV. Even then, with a full-charge range of just over 400 kilometres, you won’t need to plug in the Tesla Model X very often.
When you do need to juice up, in addition to a number of public charging stations scattered throughout the area, quite a few of the county’s inns, resorts and B & Bs offer Tesla charging stations for guests; there were no fewer than six within a few miles of Mendocino City (pop. 894).
The adventure began in San Francisco, loading luggage into the Model X’s cavernous cargo holds. The morning tourist rush swept by — until the passengerside falcon-wing door swept open. Then, instant gridlock. Smartphones in their hands, the tourist horde jostled for pictures in front of the yawning secondrow door. Requests to open and close it were made, and smartphone videos were shot.
Realizing we could be there all day, we hopped in, pressed the Close All button on the centre console touch screen, and silently pulled away from the curb as the audible route guidance system put us on course for our first designated stop: the Tesla Supercharging station in Petaluma, just 39.2 miles (or 63.9 km) up Highway 101.
Why, with our battery range reading 230 miles, would we stop just 40 miles into our trip? Well, when you’re on a road trip in a Tesla, you don’t pass up an opportunity to charge up for free, particularly at a Supercharger. We plugged in and were back to full range in less than 15 minutes. Another lesson we’ve learned from past road trips in a Tesla is these charging stops are good times to grab a meal. So, we did just that.
Unplugged from the supercharger station, we punched in our next destination and seconds later, three possible routes appeared on the 17-inch centre-mounted touch screen. We selected the scenic Highway 1 route. Distance: 116 miles. Time to destination: two hours, 46 minutes.
That didn’t seem quite right, but after driving the coastal part of the route, we figured out why. Despite a posted speed limit of 55 mph, the fastest we got in the Model X on this stretch was 32 mph, not because of traffic, but because of the undulating roadway. We arrived at the destination within a minute of the predetermined time.
We spent the next three days exploring laid-back Mendocino County, then drove back down Highway 101 to return the Model X to Tesla HQ in Palo Alto.
After the Supercharge on the first day, the only time we charged up was on our first night. With 250 miles on the batteries, we had more than enough to drive around the county before arriving back at the Petaluma charger with 30 miles left to spare. Just 30 minutes later we were back to a near-full charge and headed south to Palo Alto.
So, what did we learn about the Model X during this trip? Well, first and foremost — despite undeniable claims that the Tesla battery pack is the best in the business, and the very real truth that the falcon-wing doors are Batman-cool — we learned that the real heart of this SUV is that touch screen, a true smartphone on steroids. From calculating routes to determining charge requirements and locations, from finding off-the-beaten path restaurants to surfing the web for reviews (our test model was equipped with 4G Wi-Fi) the touch screen takes all the guesswork out of a road trip. It also offers quick, intuitive climate, car system and audio controls.
It’s been said, snidely, that Tesla vehicles are just smartphones on wheels. Well, yeah. And that’s what makes them so remarkable. Decry our tethering to our phones all you like, there’s no denying the value of real-time navigation and information at our fingertips. And a hat tip to Google, whose map system is at the very heart of the Tesla brain; just as Uber couldn’t have happened without Apple, Tesla’s operating system would not be possible without Google.
Then there’s the vehicle itself. The interior of the Model X is as airy and stylish as the Model S sedan, made even more so thanks to the wildly swept-back and panoramic windshield, the largest in production. It ends behind and above the front occupants’ heads, providing amazing views, akin to those from one of those bubbleglass helicopters.
Our tester was outfitted with two second-row seats — a threeseat layout is also available — and like the front seats, they are sculpted and shaped to recall the most stylish Swedish furniture. But, like furniture that looks great in magazines but leaves a little to be desired when sitting on it, the second-row seats elicited some complaints: the frontseat headrest intruded upon the sightlines looking forward and after a couple of hours of seat time, the bolstering wasn’t doing its job of providing good support. “Hard to find a comfortable position,” was one comment.
The third-row seats were easily accessible, either through the middle of the two second-row seats or by moving the secondrow seats up and entering through the huge space provided by the falcon-wing door opening.
In terms of interior storage, the Model X is the SUV leader, with 2,180 litres. With no motor under the trunk, there’s more space for cargo, providing unsurpassed capacity.
Having previously spent many kilometres behind the wheel of the Model S, I found the performance and handling characteristics of this Model X — our tester was the top-of-the-line, all-wheel-drive P90D model — very similar. It was extremely sure-footed and it had amazing acceleration and regenerative braking that acts like downshifting. Once mastered, it makes twisty highways a blast to drive.
One place the sedan outshines the SUV, however, is in cabin noise. The Model S, even at hard highway acceleration, is whisper quiet, almost eerily so. The Model X has more cabin noise, partly from its higher and larger front end cutting through the air, and partly from the front-wheelmounted electric motors. That said, it’s still much quieter than its gasoline-fuelled competitors.
Actually, it’s odd to write the word “competitors” when writing about the Tesla Model X. As far as I can tell, there is nothing on the road like the it. The Model X truly resides in a category all its own.