Tesla: 7-seat EV crossover has lots of zip
Photo credit: BLOOMBERG
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LOS ANGELES -- Tesla Motors says the battery-powered crossover it showed last week -- two years before its scheduled sales debut -- can get off the line faster than a Porsche 911.
The Model X will carry seven occupants and their luggage. Its front and rear electric motors will accelerate the crossover to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, said Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
But the most remarkable trait of the prototype is the second-row "falcon-wing doors" -- a double-hinged version of the famed gull-wing doors on the Mercedes coupe from the 1950s.
Deliveries are to begin early in 2014, and prototype production is to start next year at Tesla's Fremont, Calif., plant.
The Model X will ride on the same platform as Tesla's Model S sedan, which debuts this summer. It will come with a choice of the same 230- and 300-mile range lithium ion battery packs available on the Model S.
Because the Model X is larger and heavier, the range will be about 10 percent less than the sedan, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said.
The Model X will be slightly more expensive than the sedan, which starts at $67,400 for the 230-mile version, before a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Tesla hopes to sell about 15,000 units of the crossover annually, a sales target similar to that of the sedan.
You can reach Mark Rechtin at mrechtin@crain.com. -- Follow Mark on 
