Some serious crowdsourcing by members of the Tesla Motors Club (and, most specifically, Model X reservation holders) and some nice sleuthing by Fred Lambert reveal that there seem to be about twice as many reservations for the Model X as there were for the Model S when production began, 24,000 as compared to 12,000.
There are some obvious reasons for the boost. For one, back when the Model S was launched, Tesla Motors was on shaky grounds and not nearly as many people knew about the company, had faith in its products, or had faith in its survival at all. A few years later, Tesla is practically the hottest company in the world, its second vehicle (the Model S) has won just about every car award on the books and even been called “car of the century” by Car & Driver. Its vehicles are now known to be on another level than the rest of the cars on the market.
The Model X also brings more appeal for women (reportedly), the ability to tow, extra interior space, insanely cool falcon-wing doors, all-wheel drive (which the Model S didn’t initially have), and that “I’m bigger than you” appeal of SUVs that so many people desire.
Now, I should emphasize here that the reservation data ≠ official Tesla data. “Members of the Tesla Motors Club (TMC) have been gathering reservation data on the Model X since Tesla unveiled the prototype on Feb 9, 2012. Members post their sequence number for their region and version of the vehicle (signature or regular production). A summary tally of the highest numbers reported to date are regularly updated to show the current tally total,” Fred writes.
The funny thing, as Fred notes, is that Tesla hasn’t even shown an official, final version of the Model X, nor a final base price. Elon Musk stated in a conference call several months ago that Tesla wouldn’t be unveiling the Model X until deliveries began… because of special features that they apparently want to hold as a surprise. (Of course, it is assumed that initial reservation holders will have full details, and perhaps even a sneak peek, in order to allow them to finalize their orders.)
Tesla Model X reservation-holders will be able to configure their vehicle and finalize their orders by the end of this month.
Related:
Tesla Model X Spy Shots Compilation
Tesla Gigafactory Ahead of Schedule, Model X Production Line Has Several Times More Robots
Chart by Paul Carter
Tesla now has a picture of the Model X, on the model x web site page. I can’t imagine it will differ too much from the actual model for sale.
http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx
What’s on their website has remained essentially unchanged since the prototype was revealed. It’s not a picture but a CGI of the Model X prototype. The front fascia in the Beta versions has had some fairly significant changes, but the overall shape is the same.
We do know that it’ll have some really cool features like a retractable spoiler.
Isn’t it strange that the orders dropped most precipitously right after the prototype was revealed (in February 2012) — or am I missing something? Could that be why Musk has been so careful not to reveal anything else, while pretending that it is because he thinks people enjoy anticipating big “surprises”?
I think the reason for that is the unveiling of the AWD Model S. But may have my dates mixed up.