Matthew DeBord/BI
Electric road trip!
- The Model X is Tesla's exotic all-electric SUV, with a price tag of as much as $150,000.
- It can seat up to seven people and handle a LOT of cargo.
- The biggest issue for road trips, with or without the family, is keeping the battery charged.
The Model X is Tesla's offering for American families: a stylish SUV with seating for at least five and up to seven, plus cargo space for gear and room for a pet.
It checks those boxes while looking like a spaceship with a dramatic extended windshield affording a view of the sky, falcon wing doors, and all-electric propulsion. It can also, at the P100D trim level - which means it has a 1oo kilowatt-hour battery pack, and a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system - streak from 0-60 mph in about 3 seconds. Hang onto those Game Boys, kids!
I took a Tesla sedan, the P90D, on an adventurous road trip with some of my family last year. And I spent some time behind the wheel of the Model X after it was rolled out. But I'd never gone on a deep dive, testing the vehicles full capabilities, from seating comfort to ridonkulous speed to Autopilot semi-self-driving technology to the true secret sauce of Tesla-ness: the extensive Supercharger network and the in-vehicle algorithms that enable you to hopscotch between them.
Tesla rectified that by setting me up with a Model X loaner - a fully loaded P100D that likely cost around $150,000. It arrived in a glorious glossy black with a creamy white leather interior. Into the available seating and cargo space I would place myself; my lovely wife; our two handsome sons, James (12) and Dante (7) our talented daughter, August (14) and our cheerful new dog, Marco (2, we think).
We loaded up on a Friday in autumn. Our destination was 340 miles southwest: Deep Creek, MD. We had Superchargers and more adventures in front of us. Here's how it went.
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