Jonathan Gitlin
A Model X, in the flesh.
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Later this month, Tesla is going to unveil its long-awaited Model 3 electric vehicle. We're all eager to see the new EV, which will retail for half the cost of Tesla's current cheapest model while retaining the company's signature long range capability. But there's another Tesla we're yet to know well, one that's just starting to appear on our roads: the Model X SUV. Tesla is currently taking the Model X on a tour around the country to give customers with reservations a chance to get behind the wheel, and the company was kind enough to invite us to check it out earlier this week in Washington, DC.
A proper review will have to wait until Tesla has some spare Model X's they can set aside for the media, which we hope happens some time later this year. The company is currently working to meet order books that are overflowing regardless of glowing road tests, so it's hard to blame this approach. In the meantime, the 10 minutes your author spent behind the wheel on the roads of Tyson's Corner, VA will have to suffice.
If that time is anything to go by, the Model X is one of the very best SUVs I've driven. The Model X shares its platform—if not its ride height—with the Model S sedan, which means there's a skateboard chassis with the battery packs between the axles. With such a low center of gravity, there's none of the usual SUV body roll. Instead you get all the benefits of a lofty driving position without the principal drawback. Combined with the panoramic windscreen (it has clever magnetic sunshades), the result is an expansive view of the world in front of you.
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