2018 Tesla Model X 75D Dual Electric Motors
Summary:
Game changing, but immature
Faults:
• Gaskets beneath front doors are poorly glued and keep falling off.
• Triangular window on passenger door had a faulty seal and needed to be replaced.
• Door trim vibrated when cranking up the volume, fixed on warranty.
• Cruise control/autopilot is highly unreliable, automatically braking for shadows and non-shadows on the highway.
• Forward crash warning alerts go off on meeting traffic for no reason.
• Folding mirrors freeze in winter time.
• Defogging is mediocre and defaults to "recirculate" on medium power when fresh air and high power is the obvious solution.
• Window wipers and washer fluid jets (built into the blades) are borderline dangerous, failing to clean the window properly.
• Automatic wipers are in "beta" and requires a tropical storm to register rain on the windshield.
General Comments:
Electric propulsion is by far the future, but while excelling in electrification, Tesla fails on most other parts of car making. The Model X is spacious for passengers with comfortable seats, but a very noisy cabin and a large yet impractical boot are big drawbacks. Voice control is probably useful for English drivers, but any international buyers are left fiddling with a touch screen while driving. Build quality is generally OK, but certain design choices make the car fall short of European premium cars. Access to Spotify, podcasts and streaming radios are all great, but the lack of proper phone support (e.g. CarPlay or Android Auto) is preposterous. In short, it is difficult to say something about the car without adding a "but" towards the end of the sentence.
That said; power is incredible, the default sound system is above average, the Supercharger network is a lifesaver, the comfort level is very high and the car shows promise of what tomorrow's car will look like. Here's hoping tomorrow comes sooner rather than later.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 15th January, 2019
19th Jan 2019, 12:21
Thanks for this very honest review. I'm saying this because I know there are many Tesla fans out there that may get irritated when someone talks about negatives about this car. Not saying it's a bad car, but like any car it has its downsides and minor inconveniences. A Tesla cannot be compared to - say - a Lexus or BMW in terms of build quality. This is a very new brand, built from scratch; time is needed to refine their cars. The trickiest part is that buyers spend a good amount of money anyway, and given the level of refinement offered by the gasoline driven competition, they feel entitled to get their money's value. But one still needs to realize that this is a very young brand that indeed needs time to mature - however this is a little difficult to accept in a consumer society.
Very good point about voice command in other languages.
The autopilot must be taken with a grain of salt. It is not perfect and does require constant attention from the owner: for example, it does not work in road construction areas because the autopilot is using street line markings for guidance, and in construction zones these lines often times are modified, less clear or worse covered with concrete separators. This caused some accidents (look up on Youtube). On the other side, the autopilot also saved several crashes from happening (search again on Youtube) so it's a good thing. It should be improved in the future.
I would also like to point about a rather common complaint when it comes to Tesla owners (not in your review, but on their forums). Several owners feel that for the money spent they don't get the same luxury as on equivalently priced gasoline cars. The fact is, the price of a Tesla is related to the battery, electric drive line and also company investment in infrastructure (manufacturing, robots, car design, etc). So despite being priced like a high end luxury car, the money doesn't go exactly into luxury equipment.
Any how, I hope more Tesla owners come and leave honest feedback; the Tesla section is lacking reviews on this site!