Yahoo Autos Tesla's Falcon Wing Doors Have One Great Function
It's the doors that do it. I was pretty unimpressed by these Falcon Wing doors when the Tesla Model X debuted in 2015, writing them off as an expensive, complicated gimmick. The fact that the doors were a contributing factor in the Model X's delayed arrival didn't do them any favors in my eyes, either.
But when I was taking photos of this Model X P100D in a hip part of Brooklyn, every time I raised the doors, people stopped. A delivery truck driver said the X was "a sexy piece of ass you've got there," while attendees of a nearby music festival stopped and took selfies. Toddlers and parents alike looked on in amazement at the bizarre mechanical symphony of the doors going up and down.
I wasn't expecting this. The Model X has been with us for nearly three years now; in a place like New York City, they're not uncommon. And I struggle to call it pretty. It features lots of nice details, but to be perfectly honest, I think it looks like an egg from many angles.
All I see is a frumpy family transporter. And yet, with the falcon doors, the Model X gets attention like a supercar. And that could be Tesla’s greatest achievement yet.
When you work as a journalist, it’s easy to have a somewhat jaded view of Elon Musk’s electric car company. We watch Tesla closely, as it burns through cash and continues to struggle to build the entry-level Model 3 on schedule, while Musk wages war on anyone publishing less-than-glowing Tesla coverage and works on unrelated projects you might consider distracting.
But driving the Model X reminds us that much of the public doesn't feel the same way. For them, seeing this striking black, bewinged SUV is an event. I can't help but think of the shot of New Yorkers crowding around a red Countach parked on a Manhattan street from a 1987 60 Minutes profile of Lamborghini.
I reviewed the Model X just a week before driving the new Jaguar I-Pace. That's the British automaker's first all-electric car, and the first long-range luxury electric car to come from an extant mainstream automaker (the 238-mile Chevy Bolt resembles a more mainstream compact hatchback). But it won't be the last. We just saw the debut of the BMW iX3 crossover, and later this year, we'll get the Audi e-Tron Quattro. The Mercedes EQC should follow not too long after, and next year, we'll get the Porsche Taycan and something all-electric from Volvo.
Eventually, all mainstream automakers will offer EVs, but would they have done so this quickly were it not for Tesla? In a remarkably short time, Tesla has established itself as a serious player in the auto world, and forced electric cars into the public consciousness. It created an incredibly exciting environment.
And that brings me back to the doors. I used to think they were just another example of the pitfalls of Musk's ambition, and perhaps they still are-too complicated and expensive for any practical benefit they may offer. But maybe that's the wrong way to look at them. The doors call all sorts of attention to the car-and therefore, to Musk's stated goal of moving the world towards EV adoption. Can something be a little dumb and a little genius at the same time? In the case of the Model X's Falcon Wings, I think so.
Tesla's future looks uncertain today. It might have flashy new products in the pipeline-the Semi, the Model Y crossover, and the new Roadster-but it faces huge challenges in trying to become profitable while ramping up Model 3 production. But whether or not Tesla itself weathers this storm, its impact will be felt for a long time. You can thank the doors for that.
You Might Also Like
