With deliveries slated to start on September 29th, the 2016 Tesla Model X still has some secrets to share with us as full-scale production nears. The 29th is a few days away, but we fear that Tesla has a problem to address before starting deliveries – those doors.
YouTube user Susan Le uploaded the following clip on the popular video sharing website. We're not mad at the fact that she and her boyfriend can't keep their mouths shut for a second, but we're mad to find out that the Falcon Wing rear doors are not fault proof.
As you can too see in the attached video, the newfangled contraption from Fremont, California, opens the rear doors by itself and it's fairly easy to hop in. But once you've settled in the rear, the left-hand side Falcon Wing rear door closes but not to a complete shut. The driver has to get out of his seat and push the lower part of the Falcon Wing rear door for it to shut as intended. Be as it may, this slightly camouflaged Model X could be just a pre-production vehicle.
Then again, the Tesla Model S and its retracting door handles had its fair share of problems as well. We don't mean to boo and hiss Elon Musk's latest creation, but we have this sneakin' suspicion that the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing-like Falcon Wing doors could spell trouble. But then again, a simple software upgrade could fix whatever problem could occur with the elaborate roof-hinged rear doors.
This isn't the first time car spotters and carparazzi found that the Tesla Model X suffers from a problem with its rear doors. On multiple occasions they've spotted huge panel gaps, an error that can probably arise from a door latch failure. All in all, engineers have to address the Falcon Wing rear doors' closing mechanism before this error sees the doors open at high speed. That's a situtation that could precede a recall campaign.
On an ending note, the 2016 Tesla Model X in Signature Edition form starts at $132,000, with a fully-equipped example setting the customer back $144,000. Opt for Ludicrous mode and the X will also accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 3.2 seconds. Your move, internal combustion engine!
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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