With a Recall Underway, the Model X is Still a Thorn in Tesla's Side

by Steph Willems

April 11th, 2016 2:34 PM

with a recall underway the model x is still a thorn in tesla s side

Like an actor who just can’t cut it, the third-row seats in Tesla’s unveil of the Model 3. Little did he know his parts problems weren’t over.

The rear seats in the Model X were supplied by Futuris SA, which will be shouldering the cost of the recall, according to Tesla. The first two rows of seats were designed and manufactured in-house by the automaker.

Jon McNeil, Tesla’s president of sales and service, said production of the SUV remains on schedule and insisted the recall was taking place “out of an abundance of caution.”

[Image: Tesla Motors] [Source: Bloomberg]

#ElectricVehicles #EVs #Green #ModelX #Recall #Safety #SUVs #Tesla #TeslaModelX

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Bigtruckseriesreview @ Youtube on Apr 11, 2016

The tesla platform is brilliant. You can staple anything atop it and have a vehicle that goes 0-60 in less than 4 seconds and gets 275 miles per charge. The problem is what they are choosing to staple on top isn't very exciting- especially when the costs are ridiculous and supply is scarce.

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- Kyree on Apr 11, 2016
  
  Back in the early days of the automobile, luxury automakers like Rolls-Royce would merely build the chassis and drivetrain for the car. Buyers would commission coach-builders to create the body and interior. The Model S and Model X do benefit from having a complete frame with all of the running gear bolted to it. Moreover, the fact that it is an electric vehicle with independent motors for each axle means that there aren't the same packaging constraints you'd see with a traditional ICE-powered vehicle, meaning that there's a larger number of shapes the frame could fit within. I almost think Tesla would be more successful if it did simply built that, and let other companies complete the cars. Maybe there's room for another EV builder to do something like that.
  
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- Bigtruckseriesreview @ Youtube on Apr 11, 2016
  
  @Kyree I originally thought that's what would happen. I assumed other manufacturers would license the Tesla platform and put their own designs atop it. But thus far, every company seems to be avoiding doing that. BMW is building i8 and i3 their way. Mercedes is building PHEV out of existing classes. Audi wants to make synthetic fuel ...
  
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- Derekson on Apr 11, 2016
  
  @bigtruckseriesreview @ Youtube To be fair, synthetic fuel makes more sense than fuel cells with compressed hydrogen gas. Synthetic fuel is a far more dense energy carrier than H2 gas. Though Audi also seems to be working on fuel cell vehicles for some stupid reason.
  
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- Bigtruckseriesreview @ Youtube on Apr 11, 2016
  
  @derekson Hydrogen is the most abundant element on Earth and the Universe. The problem is the amount of energy that is needed to produce usable H fuel, or separate H2 from O. Frankly, I think going all Nuclear, Solar, wind, geothermal and alternative electric and using H fuel separated from sea-water instead of fossil fuel in applications which need combustible energy is the better choice. If you have to expend more energy creating an energy source than you actually get out of it: You're doing it wrong
  
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- Porschespeed on Apr 11, 2016
  
  @Kyree That's a nice thought. If you build less than 500 (or whatever the new number is) you can get away with it. This will never work in mass production for so many reasons I don't have time to list them all. We'll start with NHTSA reg compliance, that's kinda of a big one....
  
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- Bigtruckseriesreview @ Youtube on Apr 11, 2016
  
  @porschespeed Imagine if an energy plan like this could be done on a small scale island or in a desert. Imagine I could set up HUNDREDS of Solar panels in a desert - using the shade to shield from heat - so we could live under them comfortably. Imagine channeling that energy into production of fresh water right from the air - or nearby salt water. Using that energy for our needs: computers, TV, cooling fans, etc. Someday people will wonder why we killed each other for oil when we had limitless power in the sky.
  
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- Porschespeed on Apr 11, 2016
  
  @bigtruckseriesreview @ Youtube Mirror farm, tower. Split the H20 with superheating. Very doable. Proven. We could have built solar farms to power most of the country with what we pissed away in Iraq alone. you know what happened. If you think the oil companies will let that happen the day before they suck the last drop of oil from the ground, you don;t understand how the world works. There are also projected problems with global warming coming from the effect of hundreds of million of H cars leaking ever so slightly every time they fill. There was a Stanford paper on it a decade ago.
  
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- Aycaramba on Apr 12, 2016
  
  @bigtruckseriesreview @ Youtube Maybe solar panels, if the efficiency could be increased, and you can find a good way to store the energy when the sun isn't shining. I've always thought that a distributed grid using solar and small wind generators on homes and buildings could reasonably supplement existing power plants and could provide additional "free" energy. Cost and efficiency is still a major factor though. Mirror farms don't seem to be ready for prime time yet. Just research Invanpah solar farm in California. A few of its problems: - Still only producing about 68% of potential power by the end of 2015, at a cost of $200 per MW/hr--about 6 times the cost of a natural gas power plant - Blinding glare from both the heliostats and receivers for pilots in the area. DOE paper produced by Sandia Natl. Labs from July 2014 indicates the glare impairs pilots at a distance of up to 6 miles. - Best one: between 1,000 and 28,000 birds (number varies depending on whether you ask power plant officials or environmentalists) are incinerated mid-flight every year as they pass through the area. During one study, "Federal wildlife investigators who visited the BrightSource Energy plant last year and watched as birds burned and fell, reporting an average of one "streamer" every two minutes..." I think it's somewhat amusing that they actually have coined a term for the birds that are set aflame while flying, but I'm sure it's less so for the birds. So yeah, great idea, but I'm not sure all the kinks are worked out yet.
  
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Dukeisduke on Apr 11, 2016

What do you mean by "...a rear seatback could slip"? The seatback collapses backward, toward the rear window? By the way, these things stir about as much excitement as a washing machine. Zzzzzzzzzz...

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ToddAtlasF1 on Apr 11, 2016

I saw my first Tesla Model X today. Its appearance is not an asset. The new Tesla CUV screams miniature genitalia syndrome meets bully victim like no other before it. If you want to make your Ram truck driving neighbor feel like a real man, this is the car to do it.

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Baggins on Apr 11, 2016

I saw a Model X yesterday. My first instinctual reaction: "kinda funny shaped" My first reaction on seeing a Model S: "Great looking car"

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