Tesla Motors Inc., the electric carmaker, unveiled a battery- powered sport-utility vehicle with “gull-wing” doors that will go on sale next year after the Model S sedan’s debut.The Model X is said to be faster than Porsche AG’s 911 sports car and roomier than Audi AG’s Q7 SUV. It will be built in 2013 at the Tesla’s Fremont, California, and deliveries will start late next year and ramp up throughout 2014.
Tesla, which seeks to become a dominant seller of premium electric vehicles, expects Model S sales to help it become profitable for the first time by as early as next year. The company began taking reservations for the seven-passenger crossover Model X, which shares a platform and battery system with Model S, when it showed a prototype at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, California at 9th February 2012.
The Model X has two electric motors and will be available as an all-wheel drive model, said Alan Clarke, manager of studio engineering at the Hawthorne facility.
The vehicle has doors that swing open upward because they’re hinged at the roof, reminiscent of auto designer John DeLorean’s namesake DeLorean DMC-12 sports car from the early 1980s, featured in the “Back to the Future” movies.
The second-row doors are like gull-wing doors, which were referred to as ‘falcon-wing’ doors by Elon Musk.
Like the Model S, the SUV is also equipped with a 17-inch touch screen for navigation, audio and other vehicle controls, the largest of its type in the industry.
The company didn’t give pricing or range details for the Model X. The most expensive version of the Model S sedan, capable of going 300 miles on lithium-ion battery power per charge, cost at least $92,400, Tesla said late last year. The base model of the sedan starts at $57,400 and will run 160 miles per charge.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-10/tesla-shows-gull-wing-electric-suv-ahead-of-model-s-sales.html
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