Consumer Reports magazine have been well known for reviewing different lines of products from cars to health products. Reviews from the magazine have been a big factor in product sales as consumers respect the magazine's opinions. They recently reviewed the Tesla Model X SUV, unfortunately, more bad than good was mentioned.
The Falcon Wings Are A Drag
First, editors from the magazine were too obvious with their thoughts on the "falcon wing" doors of the SUV and mentioned that the rear doors are not smooth and have the tendency to stop and pause when being opened or closed. They also mentioned that the cargo space is small for a car this size and that the third-row seats can only feet children. The second seat's inability to fold also disappointed the testers.
The driver can also get easily distracted with its windshield that lets too much glare inside the car. Another distraction mentioned was the big 17-inch touch screen that contains most of the controls of the car. They mentioned that the big touch screen requires the driver to take their eyes and focus on the road, which can be quite unsafe. The name Autopilot also does not stand up to its name since driver or human interaction is still required, whereas the term autopilot means that it should allow fully autonomous driving.
Consumer Reports Is Impressed, Or Not
The magazine, however, was impressed when they were able to achieve a recorded zero to 60 miles in just 4.9 seconds and a 230-mile range that comes very close to Tesla's claim of 4.8 seconds for a zero to 60 run, and a 250-mile EPA-rated range. But it is still not something that will really get the hopes up for consumers as the testers also mentioned that even if the SUV's cornering performance has a similar feel to a sports sedan, the ride quality is too harsh to be a family vehicle. Consumers can get a better quality ride for a vehicle with the price of a Tesla Model X that comes at $110,000 dollars. What Consumer Reports may be saying is that the Model X is more of a show car instead of a road car. It is showy and may have focused more on form over function.
Tesla May Still Be On To Something Great
Even if Consumer Reports greatly criticizes the Tesla Car, not everyone needs to share his or her opinion with the magazine. One of the most respected automotive magazines, TopGear, also tested the SUV and had nothing but praise for the electric vehicle. BBC also had their share of testing and achieved the promised zero to 60 miles in exactly 4.8 seconds. Tesla CEO and co-founder, Elon Musk, also announced that they would be rolling out new hardware and software that will feature fully autonomous driving with their Enhanced Autopilot program. The updates will start rolling out by the third week of December, if everything is successful, then Tesla will have truly achieved a fully functioning, self-driving vehicle.
