- Tesla recently launched a seven-seat option
for their popular crossover, the Model Y.
And just a week ago, my wife, Jenny and I,
along with our two kids,
got to see one in real life.
Now, initially I thought this was kind of a joke and
it was going to be totally useless back there
because there's not a lot of space.
But after testing it out with my family,
I've changed my mind.
So now, the question becomes,
if you're looking to buy a Tesla with seven seats,
do you go with the Model X or the Model Y?
Well, let's read the data on this
and I'll give you my thoughts as to which one I would pick.
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Now, let's hop back to the video.
All right, let's start with the most important factor
when buying an EV range.
The long-range all-wheel drive Model 3 comes in at
an estimated 326 miles of range.
And can charge at 250 kilowatts top speed.
This is tremendous, and it's actually been updated
even since the initial launch less than a year ago.
So, it may even get more miles as time goes on.
Now, the Model X, which was just refreshed,
that includes some new hardware updates, starts at 360 miles
for the dual motor all-wheel drive edition.
And can charge at that same 250-kilowatt Version 3 speed.
So, clearly the Model X wins this category
but I'll add that 326 miles is nothing to sneeze at.
Especially because seizing things is bad,
but also because unless you go on these long road trips
on a regular basis, that 40 mile difference isn't really
going to mean a whole lot to you,
especially not on a day-to-day or even week to week basis.
So, next let's look at Performance/Utility.
The Model Y long-range all-wheel drive comes in
with the zero to 60 time of 4.8 seconds,
which is about the same as a BMW X7.
And as far as the Model X long-range all-wheel drive,
we're looking at 3.8 seconds, zero to 60,
which is on par with the latest Lamborghini SUV, the Urus.
But really if you're talking about SUVs and crossovers,
I think what we're really after is utility.
Performance is nice but utility is kind of the key factor.
So as far as storage goes, the Model Y comes in
with 68 cubic feet of storage with the seats folded down.
And as for the Model X,
if you go with the five or seven-seat option,
here we'll look at the seven-seat option,
fold the seats down,
you've got about 88 cubic feet of storage.
So, the X wins again here, but one thing to pay attention
to is the seating configuration.
In my Model X that I sold a couple of months ago,
we had a six-seat configuration,
which was really nice
because the middle seats were really kind of comfortable.
They were called captain's chairs
but they didn't fold down.
So what that means is that
it was hard to fit bigger items in there.
So, if you're after utility, the Model X you're gonna want
is the five or seven-seat configuration.
And as I mentioned at the top,
I recently had a chance to check
out that Model Y seven-seat configuration.
And I was honestly shocked at how good it is.
They somehow were able to fit forward-facing seats,
suitable for small humans or possibly kids in
forward-facing car seats without losing any storage at all.
Essentially, the only bit you lose
is this second false bottom area,
which is really just for smaller, slim items
such as your charging equipment.
Now let's talk about Tech.
The motorway is clean and modern
with everything embedded into this central,
15-inch touch screen.
It has built-in streaming services like Spotify,
a dash cam and the security mode system
that uses all of the surrounding cameras
to detect suspicious activity
and then records it locally if anything happens,
like someone bumps your car
or where to break a window or something.
The Model Y has all of the latest driver assist capabilities
that Tesla offers.
And one day, according to Tesla, will be able to
drive itself completely on its own,
fully self-driving as they call it or FSD.
Now, of course, that will cost a bit extra
but even what it can do now is pretty impressive.
The doors and windows operate how normal doors
and windows do on a car.
This would be relevant in a second.
And otherwise the car is almost advanced as they come
in terms of Tech.
I say almost because the latest refresh of the Model X
has kind of put things over the top.
The Model X has a massive 17-inch landscape mode display
in the middle plus another screen behind the wheel
to help maximize that middle screen's use.
They also have an additional screen in the back
of the center console.
So, people in the back seat or middle seat,
if you have the third row,
are able to watch something there as well.
Unlike the Model Y, the Model X screen can pan
left and right.
So, you can have the perfect viewing angle
for whatever you might want to watch on there.
Like the Model Y, the airflow for the air conditioning
is controlled by the screen or actually voice commands.
And is directed by these two vents, which kind of
work in opposition to point the air
wherever you want it to go.
And it is also completely hidden inside of the wood dash,
which is pretty cool.
The Model X has front ventilated seats
and a HEPA filter that enables this biohazard defense mode.
I've actually found this nice when driving
near big diesel trucks or whenever there's some kind of
random foul smell outside.
You flip that on, it just clears it right up.
Then of course, you have the new yoke steering wheel
which itself isn't really that crazy
until you realize that there were no stalks
for turn signals, lights or even shifting
from drive to reverse.
How do you tell the car to go into driver reverse?
You might ask.
Well, you don't.
The car guesses which direction to go based on
what obstacles it sees, context and nav map.
And of course you can override that on the touch screen.
One additional feature which may be coming to the Model Y
soon, as well, is the adaptive air suspension
and this will raise or lower the car based on your settings.
This is really great if you live somewhere with
lots of Hills or bumpy roads
and also you can set it so that it remembers
to raise or lower it, based on your location using GPS.
In addition, when you're going faster on the freeway,
you can actually have it auto lower the car
and as much as possible to reduce drag,
improving efficiency and giving you even more range.
You do this by just telling it how fast
you want it to lower it at.
Now, this is actually one of my favorite features
of both the S and the X.
So, I hope the Model 3 and Model Y get it someday.
But as of now, recording this in early February,
that doesn't exist.
Now of course, we can't talk about Tech
and the Tesla Model X
without talking about the falcon-wing doors.
This is probably the thing that the Model X
is most known for, are these doors.
And the idea is that they go up instead of out.
And they kind of fold in the middle.
So, they don't really take up a ton of room when they go up.
But they can kind of open up
and give you really great access in and out of the car.
Now, these doors have some pros and some cons.
So, first off, they look awesome.
I think that they're incredible.
But they also make getting in and out of the car
really easy.
And of course if you're putting kids in car seats,
it's a breeze, since you don't have to bend down
and kind of fish them around and set them in there.
It's just really just fully upright
and you just pop them in and out, it's great.
On the downside however, they are prone to errors.
And sometimes they don't open all the way
when you need them to.
And you can usually override that manually, but not always.
Also, if you have a toddler that is the right height
they might be able to reach out and kick that close button
having the door come crashing down on top of you.
I know that might not sound like a probable scenario
but if you ask my wife, she'll tell you,
she would never buy a Model X again, because of this.
And while yes, the doors do have a sensor
that makes sure it doesn't tear you in half,
I would say that when it closes out on top of you
it's coming just short of that.
Yeah, this has happened to both me and my wife
a couple of times, and it's painful.
It's not something I recommend at all, zero out of ten.
Now, I could go on forever with the Model X Tech.
There's a reason that Elon calls it the Faberge egg of cars.
But you get the point.
It has more bells and whistles than probably anything
on the market, except maybe a Rolls Royce SUV
with the umbrella at the door.
Now, it's a lot.
And if more Tech is better,
than X clearly wins this category.
All right, now let's talk styling.
The most subjective category of them all.
Personally, I prefer the Model Y styling over the X.
The Model Y has a modern and sporty look.
And in my view, it's really an improvement
over its smaller cousin, the Model 3.
And if the Model X is kind of the bigger,
more filled-out version of the Model S,
I think in doing so, they just ruined the proportions of it.
So for here, I would have to go with Model Y.
All right now, save the best for last here,
when comparing these cars.
And that's one of the biggest factors, the price.
I'm filming this in early February, 2021.
So, keep that in mind because
Tesla likes to change their price a lot,
especially when I'm, you know, recording a video.
Just kind of seems to coincide for some reason.
Currently, the Tesla Model Y long-range all-wheel drive
retails for $52,990 here in the US,
before any incentives or potential savings.
Compare that if you were to go get
a Model X long-range all-wheel drive,
you're looking at $93,490
before any incentives or potential savings.
Both prices here include that added cost of the third row.
Since that's what I'm really interested in comparing.
If you didn't want that third row,
you could subtract 3000 from the Model Y
or $3,500 from the Model X.
So, this is really what it comes down to for me,
from a practical standpoint,
I just don't see enough value
in the difference between the Y and X
to justify an additional $40,000.
I mean, that's another Tesla you could buy.
Personally, the X is just over the top.
And there's really no way I would recommend it.
At least, in my situation, $95,000 is just too much.
And the flashiness of the doors is just over the top.
Now the added range is nice.
But for me, that $40,000 difference,
isn't worth it.
Considering, on a road trip, that would mean about
an extra 10 minutes at one charging stop
to make up for that.
I've said it before, and I'll stand by it.
If Model X was cheaper and had regular doors,
I would love it.
That's basically what the Model Y is.
Tesla has done a fantastic job adding the third row
to the Model Y.
I couldn't even believe it when I saw it.
I thought it was going to be a total flop.
But it gives you nearly the same seating capacity
of the Model X.
But for close to half the price.
I would absolutely recommend the Model Y
for anyone that is looking to store more stuff
or seat more people over the Model X.
Now, if you want to see my review of our Model Y
with my wife, Jenny,
go check out the video over here.
And make sure to subscribe below and turn notifications on.
Otherwise you might not get notified
when we do our next review,
which should be coming out in a week or so.
That's it for this one, guys.
Let me know what you think at the comments down below,
and as always don't forget,
when you free the data, your model follows.
I'll see you back here in the next one.