Spend a few days with a Tesla Model X electric SUV and you'd probably struggle to find three bad things to say about it. One would probably be its porky silhouette, but the other two, we really don't know.
After all, the X does accelerate like a supercar, it has room for up to seven people, and it's got those overly-complicated falcon doors that make getting in and out of the vehicle less of a hassle than the very small hassle it usually presents. But if you want to load large objects or put the kids in their special seats, that big opening with nothing blocking your access on either side will be worth its weight in gold. "But, actually, that's just air, so it weighs close to nothing." Oh, shut up, you know what I mean.
That's what the practical mom and dad would be looking for, but the real selling point of the Model X is its ability to trump sports cars and even supercars on the quarter-mile drag strip. The top speed may not be too impressive, but the acceleration is downright Ludicrous. So, having all that power under your right foot, it takes Shaolin priest-levels of self-control to refrain from abusing it.
Imagine this situation: you're in a hurry, and you spot the light ahead of you changing to yellow. You know the light in this particular intersection lasts forever, so you're faced with a dilemma: do you ignore said Ludicrous acceleration potential, or do you engage warp speed? Not an easy decision.
It looks like the Model X owner in the video below has made his choice. We don't know for sure what forced him to enter the intersection at such a high speed, but forcing the yellow (or red) light seems like the most plausible supposition. However dangerous that may be, what happens after the car enters the junction is what's troubling us.
The incident was caught on the dashcam of another driver, but since he was relatively far away, it's hard to tell whether the Model X drifts into the curb because it understeered, or the driver simply turned left too late. By the looks of it, it seems more likely it was 100 percent the driver's error, but considering the speed and the enormous weight of the Model X - even though most of it sits low - understeer can't be completely ruled out.
The good news is that everyone in the electric SUV was fine, and the driver will probably never run a yellow light again. The bad news is still to hit the owner, and will come in the shape of a number with many zeros once the damage evaluation is made.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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