Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) hasn’t even started shipping the Model X yet, but already we have a comparison of it with some of the other most popular SUVs. If the calculations are correct, Tesla’s crossover vehicle could be the fastest to go from zero to 60 miles per hour.
How quickly does Tesla’s Model X accelerate?
Of course we won’t know how good the math is until the first Model X vehicles hit the road and early adopters start clocking the acceleration speed in the real world. Nonetheless, for Tesla enthusiasts, the comparison is certainly enough to whet their appetite.
EV Obsession (via Clean Technica) spotted a chart with the comparison on the Tesla Motors Club forum. It was posted by forum member MartinAustin, who compiled the data after reading an article about the ten fastest SUVs on the market.
Guessing the specs of Tesla’s Model X
According to his calculations, the Tesla Model X P85D will accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 4 seconds. That’s only a touch faster than the two Porsche models he listed, the Cayenne Turbo S and the Cayenne Turbo. The crossover is priced at $110,000, compared to the Cayenne Turbo S’ $146,995 and the Cayenne Turbo’s $111,395 price tags.
He estimates that the Model X will use about 400 watt hours per mile, which is far ahead of all the others on the list, most of which clock in at more than 2,000 watt hours per mile. This demonstrates what Tesla is perhaps most-praised for: its battery technology.
How did he come up with these numbers?
So did he just pull some numbers out of thin air and stick them on a chart? Of course not. He does give a great explanation of how he figured estimates for the Model X, and when the vehicle finally does hit the streets, the final specs will likely be different than what he figured. But here’s how he came up with his numbers.
The Model S P85D weighs 4,900 pounds and is a precursor to the Model X. The Model S goes from zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds. He doesn’t take into account aerodynamics because they don’t matter when a vehicle is accelerating from standing still. It’s all about the mass or power to weight ratio.
Tesla has said the Model X will weigh about 20% more than the Model S, which means it should have 80% of the acceleration of the Model S. As a result, he estimates that a Model X which weighs 5,880 pounds can hit 60 miles per hour in just 4 seconds.
What about the price tag? Tesla still hasn’t officially said how much the Model X will cost, but he simply added $5,000 to the price of the Model S because of “hints” from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He notes that the price doesn’t include any options like the Autopilot or Tech package, which would make the average selling price higher.
In terms of the watt hour per mile, he thinks it will actually end up being lower than his estimation, but he admits that there’s no way to really estimate it right now.
