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Written by Paul Horrell
Dear Elon Musk, here"s why you shouldn"t be obsessed with re-inventing every single wheel. Most of them were just fine in their original circular formOK, before I begin to rant, let"s get one thing on the table. The Tesla Model X is, in all the difficult ways, a transcendently brilliant piece of work. It emits no tailpipe gases. It drives marvellously.It"s quick, smooth and quiet. You can regulate your speed, both in traffic and when the road is open before you, with delightful smoothness and felicity. The grip is strong even on greasy wintry roads, and the superbly calibrated ESP system speaks volumes for the speed of reaction and subtle control of electric motors.The comfort, for a firm-sprung tall vehicle, is really very impressive.(Teslas so far have managed their assisted driving more smoothly than rival systems too. But we"ll step over that issue for the moment because with the rollout of the new Full Self Driving" hardware and software 8.0, Tesla has sensibly disabled most features whilst they"re verified.)Oh, and superchargers are an astounding bit of infrastructure too.In all these ways, Tesla"s commitment to disrupting previously unquestioned but actually harmful automotive conventions has brought stupendous rewards. The car world really will never be the same again.So having done these extraordinarily difficult things with near-unqualified success, why didn"t Tesla stop there?Instead, the Model X embodies reinventions of a parade of other features that were perfectly satisfactory before. And are deeply flawed in Tesla"s new format.The Model X"s screaming headline is its falcon wing" rear doors. They rise upward electrically. Not quite gullwings, they pivot in the middle so they need less sideways space. A clever idea that even if a car is parked alongside, they will sometimes lift vertically clear before spreading laterally to admit you. They also provide a wide aperture, so you can walk into the seat rather than climb bum-first as with a normal door.
Date written: 11 Feb 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6715
Dear Elon Musk, here"s why you shouldn"t be obsessed with re-inventing every single wheel. Most of them were just fine in their original circular formOK, before I begin to rant, let"s get one thing on the table. The Tesla Model X is, in all the difficult ways, a transcendently brilliant piece of work. It emits no tailpipe gases. It drives marvellously.It"s quick, smooth and quiet. You can regulate your speed, both in traffic and when the road is open before you, with delightful smoothness and felicity. The grip is strong even on greasy wintry roads, and the superbly calibrated ESP system speaks volumes for the speed of reaction and subtle control of electric motors.The comfort, for a firm-sprung tall vehicle, is really very impressive.(Teslas so far have managed their assisted driving more smoothly than rival systems too. But we"ll step over that issue for the moment because with the rollout of the new Full Self Driving" hardware and software 8.0, Tesla has sensibly disabled most features whilst they"re verified.)Oh, and superchargers are an astounding bit of infrastructure too.In all these ways, Tesla"s commitment to disrupting previously unquestioned but actually harmful automotive conventions has brought stupendous rewards. The car world really will never be the same again.So having done these extraordinarily difficult things with near-unqualified success, why didn"t Tesla stop there?Instead, the Model X embodies reinventions of a parade of other features that were perfectly satisfactory before. And are deeply flawed in Tesla"s new format.The Model X"s screaming headline is its falcon wing" rear doors. They rise upward electrically. Not quite gullwings, they pivot in the middle so they need less sideways space. A clever idea that even if a car is parked alongside, they will sometimes lift vertically clear before spreading laterally to admit you. They also provide a wide aperture, so you can walk into the seat rather than climb bum-first as with a normal door.
Date written: 11 Feb 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6715
