The electric SUV market is filling up fast, but the Tesla Model X was one of the first - and it’s still a car that stands out, partly thanks to being from such a headline-grabbing brand, and partly because of its party trick, those ‘falcon wing’ rear doors that open upwards and outwards.
If you want a new Model X, then you’ll have to put up with left-hand drive, as Tesla has said it will no longer build the car in right-hand drive form, for the time being at least. But thankfully you can still find used examples with the wheel on the correct side for our roads, and given even an early Model X looks little different from a brand new one, you won’t be losing out on much.
As alluded to above an increasing number of car manufacturers now make large, electric SUVs, so there’s a lot more choice today than there was in 2017 when the Model X first hit the UK. Cars like the Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW iX, and Mercedes EQC are all worthy of consideration, while another electric SUV pioneer, the Jaguar I-Pace, is also tempting, albeit smaller and less practical than the Tesla.
Tesla’s history has been short and tumultuous but the company has undoubtedly had a massive impact on the vehicles we see on the roads today. Electric cars would have happened without Tesla, and legislation surrounding them too, but Tesla showed that performance and advanced features were the best way to draw people in from the top down, rather than trying to entice people into EVs with feeble devices like the G-Wiz.
The Tesla Model X was the company’s third car, after the Roadster that launched Tesla and the Model S that really thrust it into the limelight, and under the skin the X is very similar to the S. It’s taller though and has the option for up to seven seats, marking it out as more of a family car than an executive express, but the Model X kept the S’s high performance and focus on high-tech features, most operated through an enormous 17-inch touchscreen.
The latest Model X Plaid would embarrass many a supercar in a straight line (though don’t ask too many probing questions about corners or ride quality, where it’s only average), but even the earliest, smallest-battery Model Xs are quick, and go a decent distance on a charge too - from 200 to 350 miles, depending on battery size. And of course, you’ll be able to top up at what is still comfortably the best charging network around, Tesla’s Supercharger stations.
‘Falcon wing’ rear doors are a bit of a gimmick but they allow access to a spacious cabin and, if the original owner ticked the right boxes, seven seats, something denied to most other plug-in cars and an immediate point in the X’s favour. In the demerit column, build quality is distinctly variable in Teslas, and while owners generally love their cars, reliability surveys suggest faults are commonplace.
That may tempt you into one of the Model X’s less novel but better-built rivals. Given the X has been on sale for a while now it has an advantage in used pricing, but as more Audi Q8 e-trons, BMW iXs and Mercedes EQCs filter onto the market, the Model X will have affordable rivals to contend with. If you don’t need the Tesla’s space, you can find the better-driving Jaguar I-Pace for surprisingly little money too.
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Given there isn’t a traditional trim level hierarchy to the Tesla Model X range, your choice will primarily come down to which battery pack you think can serve your needs, and how much performance you’d like. We’ve explained these in more detail below but broadly speaking, if the number is higher (P100D rather than 75D) then you can expect more range, and the ‘P’ suffix on some models stands for Performance, so you get more of that too.
Other than that, you’ll be looking mainly at a few different colours, a few different wheel options, and some detail changes that don’t greatly affect the overall experience.
Tesla Model X Long Range: With a 100kWh battery pack, the Model X Long Range has a WLTP range of 358 miles, while its 500kW (670PS) motor pairing enables it to get from 0-60mph in a claimed 3.8 seconds.
Tesla Model X Plaid: Plaid is Tesla-speak for the brand’s most powerful models, and in this case that means a combined power output from a three-motor setup of 1020PS. Tesla claims a 0-60mph time of 2.5 seconds with a ‘rollout’, which usually means the first few yards and first few mph are subtracted - but either way, it’ll still reach 60mph in well under three seconds. With the same 100kWh battery, range is 337 miles.
Several other Model X variants have been offered over the years, including the 75D, 90D, 100D, P90D, and P100D. The numbers in each refer to the battery size in kWh, ‘D’ refers to dual-motor variants (making them all-wheel drive), and ‘P’ is for Performance versions, with extra power. The smallest battery was good for around 200 miles, and the largest up to around 350 miles.
Tesla has always kept things fairly simple as far as trim levels go. In fact, it doesn’t really have any; you choose your battery size and whether you want a Performance model or not, and go from there. So whichever used Tesla Model X you’re looking at, and however old, you can assume similar levels of equipment beyond detail changes like wheels and paintwork. Regular over-the-air updates should have kept the car’s software up to date too.
The Tesla Model X Long Range has a pretty healthy level of standard equipment from the get-go, primarily centring around the features available through the 17-inch infotainment screen. Wheel sizes of 20 and 22 inches are available, and seating layouts accommodating up to seven people.
The Tesla Model X Plaid differs more in its mechanical layout than any real trim improvements over the Long Range. It doesn’t even look that different, other than a small Plaid badge affixed to the tailgate.
Despite the confusion of the numerous battery sizes, equipment is fairly consistent across the older models, with Tesla not offering a huge range of personalisation or variation in equipment. So everything from the 75D to the P100D should offer similar features.
The Tesla Model X’s dimensions are:
Length: 5036mm
Width: 1999mm (without mirrors)
Height: 1684mm
The Tesla Model X’s boot size is:
2180 litres with the rear seats folded
187 litre ‘frunk’
As an electric car, even considering its fairly high pricing when new, you’re in luck with the Tesla Model X, as it’s not currently subject to VED or ‘road tax’ and therefore won’t cost you a penny.
This is just as simple as road tax, though possibly not so desirable. All Model X variants fall into the maximum group 50, which ties into not just the car’s performance but also relatively high repair costs. It’s unlikely to cost supercar money to insure, despite the supercar-style performance, but may offset some of the otherwise low running costs.