Tesla provides prospective buyers a look at its next mainstream model.
It hasn’t even put its first mainstream offering, the Model S sedan, into production yet, but California electric car start-up Tesla Motors already is teasing the product to follow, the Model X crossover.
As with the Model S – with which it shares the underlying platform – the Model X crossover was originally scheduled to debut last year but has been pushed back until late in 2013, according to the battery-car maker.
The high-contrast image, a silhouette sent in a mailing to customers, was taken at the maker’s Southern California design studio. There are clear similarities to the Model S visible in the image, starting with the stylized “T” logo on the grille, but the Model X appears to have a higher roofline that tapers rearward more like a BMW 5GT or X6.
The ever modest Tesla founder and Chairman Elon Musk tweeted, “Most cars are blah. This is not.” He’s promising to provide a more complete look on the evening of February 9th, when a complete reveal of the Tesla Model X is staged on the company’s website.
He has previously declared the Model X will be “quicker than a Porsche 911 and roomier than an Audi Q7.”
Both the Teslas Models S and X are expected to share the same basic 40 kwh lithium-ion battery pack and it is likely the all-wheel-drive crossover will also be available with two larger battery pack options. In the Model S sedan, that gives a buyer a choice of 160, 230 or 300 mile range. It remains to be seen if Tesla can somehow maintain the range numbers on the crossover, especially as AWD typically sacrifices some fuel – here, make it energy – efficiency.
The Model S is now expected to reach showrooms by mid-2012, with a base price of $57,400. The 300-mile battery adds another $20,000 to the sticker. A top-line Performance Model will jump to $94,900, Tesla revealed in December. It will bump the Model S top speed to 140 mph. A “Tech Package,” meanwhile, enhances the sedan’s aerodynamics and adds another 20 miles to the 300-mile model’s range.
Tesla is expected to follow the same basic strategy with the Model X though it’s unclear if the maker will be able to introduce technical updates, including more advanced batteries, by the time the crossover reaches market.
The young company — founded by Internet pioneer Musk — hopes to sell about 15,000 Model X crossovers annually, it previously indicated.