As the Tesla Roadster hums off into the sunset, Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk has unveiled a companion piece to the waiting-in-the-wings Tesla S sedan, the all-wheel drive Tesla X crossover.
Based on the same chassis as the S, it has the same flat battery pack forming the floor of the platform, so the centre of gravity is kept low and interior space isn't compromised.
Front and rear electric motors instantaneously shift power from one axle to the other to maximise traction, while giving the X, according to Musk, the turning circle of a Mini Cooper.
More than that, with no combustion engine, it has a boot at each end, so, as Musk pointed out at the official unveiling at the Tesla design studio in Hawthorne, California, it can actually take “seven real adults and their baggage”.
“The Model X has more room than a minivan,” he said, “more style than an SUV and more performance than a sports car.”
0-100 KM/H IN 4.4 SECONDS
Those cool gull-wing doors have a second hinge in the middle, allowing them to open in tight spaces and offering better access to the second and third rows of seats than side-hung doors could.
The X will use the same 40, 60 and 80kWh battery packs as the S, but it's significantly heavier than the sedan, so range will be about 10 percent less, although acceleration from 0-100km/h is quoted at a very respectable 4.4 seconds - about 0.2sec quicker than a Porsche 911, says Musk.
The order book opens today (February 10), with production scheduled to start late in late 2013, rising to between 10 000 and 15 000 Model X's from 2014. Musk also said Telsa would start deliveries of the several-times delayed Model S sedan “no later than July”.
The Tesla X will cost about the same as the S, with prices starting at $57 500 (R440 000), although a top-of-the-range model with the biggest battery and all the extras will set you back close to $90 000 (R690 000).
Musk has also promised a fourth Tesla model in about two years time; after the Roadster, sedan and crossover, we can't help speculating about a possible California-style pickup.