Tesla Model X vs the world

You might remember Raymond Baxter from old Tomorrow’s World clips. But he also flew Spitfires in the War. Afterwards he had several BMC works drives in the Monte Carlo Rally. As a BBC commentator, he covered, among much else, Churchill’s funeral and Concorde’s first flight.

Leonardo da Vinci, there’s another prodigiously multitalented individual: anatomist, artist and endlessly creative inventor. If you want to compare the Tesla Model X to a human, this where you must look. No car is more of a polymath than the Model X.

It’s extremely fast, and because of its low centre of gravity has the potential to feel genuinely sporty around corners. It can haul a family in three rows of seats. Quietness is astonishing, luxury abundant.

Photos: Mark Riccioni

This feature was originally published in issue 293 of Top Gear magazine

Yet even listing this breadth of contradictory talents misses its true appeal. Above and beyond all that, it manages things no other manufacturer has done before. It’s a long-range electric vehicle, it has crazy falcon-wing rear doors, and the whole business is wrapped in an ineffably glossy Silicon Valley envelope that turns buyers into zealots.

Very well, if single competitors are hard to find, let’s line up three. A fast 4WD sports car from Jaguar, Volvo’s three-row family wagon, and the BMW i3 as embodiment of Europe’s most tech-forward and avant-garde EV. Imagine putting Leonardo up against Hippocrates, Michelangelo and Edison. Unfair but fun.

This Tesla 90D is claimed at 4.8 seconds for 0–60mph. Tested (not by us – it’s far too wet) on the same “one-foot rollout” dragstrip protocol, the F-Type SVR is a 3.0-second car. The quickest Model X is the P100D, at 2.9secs.

In the fractions after a standstill, the 90D’s motors do their best work, but then the Jag’s fiery V8 gets properly breathing and its advantage is colossal. It flies onward, collecting a sequence of transmission ratios that maintain the engine’s best rpm region. The single-ratio Tesla fades after 70mph, its motors’ torque falling at high rpm.

But real life gives lie to the numbers. On greasy, cold B-roads, I’m happier in the Tesla. The stiff-sprung Jag bounces around, and its throttle, even in “rain” mode, is as snappy as a crocodile’s jaw. The ESP is slow on the uptake, so the Jaguar slithers nervily, and its sharp throttle and quick steering make it damnably hard to avoid provoking it.

The Tesla’s electric motors react faster and more subtly to the ESP’s instructions, so it’s less jagged at the limit and makes me feel confident. I’m also surprised at the ride, which lets the wheels follow the ground and maintain traction and serenity.

On smooth summer roads, the Jaguar’s lighter, quicker reactions and the filthy noise of its V8 would be epic. Today they don’t seem appropriate.

Those falcon-wing doors elicit oohs and aaahs, and can be controlled from the front seat, but have no cupholders or bins – otherwise anyone nearby would be doused when they opened. Sure, they can open in a narrow space, but they’re painfully slow. Normal doors are OK, OK?

The Model X comes as standard with a second-row bench. This pair of individual row-two chairs is an option. They stand on chromed pedestals, and tilt electrically, to let people in behind. They’re beautiful. But idiotic. The pedestal is exactly where the rear passenger’s foot should go. Twin rails and folding backrests would be so much better. Their glossy plastic back surface, like the front seats’, invites all manner of scratches and carries no storage pockets.

Still, absent an engine, the Model X fields an extra boot in the nose, worth two or three big squashy bags. It’s also the only EV to tow a trailer, though I shudder to think of its effect on range. 

The Volvo is beautiful inside too, and it’s by far the one best packaged for the challenges of hauling a family. On long trips the driver will be more relaxed too, knowing they can get fuel, quickly, at so many more places. Having my family wait around at a Supercharger would be an exercise in kettling. 

The i3 has unique rear doors – clap-hands jobs – and like the Tesla’s, they gape usefully wide but score an own goal: they can be opened only after the fronts, and must be shut before. The i3’s styling is far more striking than the Tesla’s. Its oddly tall proportions take some stomaching, but some details are lovely. Despite the wild theatre of its wing doors, the Model X’s overall styling lies on a spectrum between “understated” and “vast white blob”.

Inside, both of them are open and glassy. The i3’s materials are more imaginative, and its details and controls, while the more conventional, don’t drive you mad. The Tesla’s didactic reliance on its screen does.

They share magical EV advantages in urban driving. Both react instantly and progressively to your foot, with eerie silence inside and out. So you can stealthily tuck them into traffic holes and merge ahead. Do that in the farting, blaring Jaguar and everyone would think you an arse. 

This is the bigger-battery i3, giving a real range of 120 miles. If you can find a rapid charger, you can acquire 80 per cent in 40 minutes. For the 90D, those numbers are 200-odd and, at a supercharger, less than an hour. This i3, though, has the optional petrol generator. It doesn’t make it a hybrid, but it might get you out of jail.

The Model X demands certain commitments from its owner. Not just the expenditure of £99,850 for a “basic” 90D, or £115,350 as seen. At least you’re not buying fuel.

You also need an openness to new ideas, even when they bring frustrations. Though full self-driving hardware is fitted, it’s switched off because they’re still gathering traffic data. So a new Micra does more to assist you. But you must admire the scope of the vision. Other frustrations stem from the doors and some cabin ideas.

But other really difficult stuff Tesla has breezed. Exactly replicating what’s going on deep inside the motors, it throws you silently forward by immense magnetic force. Cornering and performance are up with the best sports SUVs, and comfort and silence up with the best luxury ones.

The Model X isn’t only a jack of very many trades. It’s master of several too.