2016 Tesla Model X Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Edmunds.com

2016 Tesla Model X Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

We spent 20 months with a 2016 Tesla Model X. Read all about the ups and downs, and sideways, of owning the electric SUV.

Read the full story here

sneddren

Pretty eye opening bottom line there. Those rear doors are a deal killer for me. It's screwing in a hammock...

kirkhilles1

So... depreciation alone was $2.20 per mile. Ugh! Imagine leasing a car for $2200/month.

longtimelurker

Incredible list of issues...it's a testimony to the Supercharger system and how well it's been propagated in California, and to the level 2 internal charger, that you were even able to get 25,000 miles on the car in the 34 months since you took delivery of it. You know, I thought that the learning curve Tesla jumped on with the Model S would help Tesla avoid issues with production - process development, avoiding designs that just don't go together well on the assembly line, trouble-prone fit-and-finish gremlins, fussy connector/assembly setups, trouble with interference/slip/press fits, latch/closure mate-up tolerance, rub/squeak/friction between parts/assemblies that don't nominally come in contact AND those that do, etc....but it doesn't look like they applied those lessons very well to their sophomore mass-production effort.

legacygt

So many of the flaws in the Model X come back to the areas where Tesla decided to blaze new trails (falcon wing doors, extended windshield, powered slide of 2nd row seats). With the Model S, Tesla doesn't really ask customers to accept too many compromises vs. the typical luxury sedan other than those directly related to electrification. Given that car's success, it seems odd that they decided to inject so much weirdness in the Model X.

throwback

Makes for interesting reading between this wrap up and the one for the 100K less Mazda Cx-9. You have to really want a Model X to put with this many issues. This literally sounds like a beta product. Curious to see if the Model 3 performs better.

legacygt

throwback said:

Makes for interesting reading between this wrap up and the one for the 100K less Mazda Cx-9. You have to really want a Model X to put with this many issues.

To my point above, the biggest concerns with the Model X are the way it tries to reinvent so many things. I'm not saying there aren't things to improve upon in the 3-row crossover class. But there's a reason so many vehicles in the class conform within a relatively narrow range of features, capability, footprint, size, etc. The Model X just strays too far from that range in too many areas where the benefits are simply not worth the tradeoffs. Give it a normal windshield, ditch the falcon doors and give it a taller roof back through the cargo area, and Tesla will be back on track.