esla Model X SUV goes back to the future

Over in sunny LA, Tesla has taken the covers off of its third car model – the Tesla Model X.

Following the original electric vehicle from the Silicon Valley startup – the Tesla Roadster – and the Model S, the Model X is an SUV that is designed to give soccer moms an alternative to the usual array of gas-guzzling cars of the same size.

Featuring “Falcon Wings”, we think it looks a bit like the bastard offspring of a Ford Focus and the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future but there’s no mention of time-travel in the press-release.

What it does mention is the optional Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive. This is a second motor that will give you a smoother ride in bad weather and on bumpy rides. It also increases torque by 50 per cent and power a 0-60mph time of less than 4.5 seconds. Not bad for a family motor.

There’s three rows of seats on offer so you can stuff in plenty of kids and the dashboard looks more like the control panel from the USS Enterprise. It packs a tablet-like device labelled the Tesla Touchscreen; a 17-inch device that gives you full control (with Google Voice integration) over all of the non-driving aspects of the car.

It boasts plenty of media and connectivity options and even packs a full WebKit browser.

There’s no official price info yet (guesses are coming in around the $50-60,000 mark) but we do know that shipping will begin in late 2013 to early 2014.

Via: teslamotors.com