Auto review: Tesla Model X P100D sets autopilot to a fast future
The falcon-wing doors sealed shut and the boy studied the moonroof above his seat. His eyes trailed forward to the panoramic front windshield. The 17-inch touch screen in the center stack arrested his attention, like headlights to a deer, causing the boy to mutter, as if in a trance, “This is how I imagine cars of the future.”
Then I floored it and the kid erupted in a fit of giggles as the all-electric performance SUV rocketed to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds. The future is fast.
Since the all-wheel-drive, dual-motor P100D is all electric, it has no gears, so the acceleration is uninterrupted, prompting a gut-dropping response that took our breath away as swiftly as the $162,000 tag.
For that amount, Tesla is offering something unlike anything else on the road and also showcasing the type of technology to be equipped in cars of the near future _ like those of a boy’s imagination.
Autopilot is the most advanced, semiautonomous driving system on the market, and by Tesla terms it’s already out of date. All vehicles made from October 2016, including the only other car it sells right now, the Model S performance sedan that is the basis of the Model X, are equipped with HW2 (Hardware2), which uses more advanced radars, cameras and sensors to support fully autonomous driving.
The cars are ready but the marketplace might not be, especially since the highly publicized death of a Florida man whose Model S running on Autopilot T-boned a semi. Tesla was cleared of wrongdoing, but as regulators scramble to establish protocols for self-driving cars, automakers are wisely playing it safe; their consumers have the most to lose.
While HW2 should limit the car’s reliance on well-marked infrastructure or reading the proximity of surrounding cars, old-school Autopilot is still pretty amazing.
Before we proceed, let us not get hysterical about all these advanced features _ the world’s first self-driving car feature was launched in the Chrysler Imperial over 60 years ago: it too was called “Auto-Pilot” but is better known now as cruise control.
Like many new cars with a suite of sensors, adaptive cruise control is the basis for Autopilot. Two gray icons will appear on either side of the speedometer to indicate the system can be used, specifically if it can read the lanes in the road. With a double click of the stalk on the left side of the steering column, you set the desired speed. To adjust the distance to the car in front of you so you don’t have to brake, turn the end of the same stalk. To maintain your lane, click the stalk towards you. There you go, the car is driving itself.
If the lanes are obscured or the system is uncertain, the dash will flash white, then red, followed by an alert to put your hands on the wheel, ready to be a driver. As long as there is a car in front of it, the vehicle can come to a complete stop and start without the driver doing anything.
If you like adaptive cruise in other cars, you’ll love Autopilot. To be clear, it is a semiautonomous driving feature, and many models by several makes offer similar _ though inferior _ systems.
These are the same systems that offer advanced safety sensing like forward collision braking, blind spot alert and other features meant to minimize the impact of crashes. Like the seat belt, semiautonomous driving is a good thing when used properly.