Categrory: Price

So far, so Model S, the other landmark car from Tesla. It’s also similar in the way it prioritises gadgetry and roominess over quality, whereby the choice of materials, and quality of fit and finish isn’t what you would typically expect at this upper price bracket. What is noticeably different, however, is the higher hip point, improving access and offering the driver a much more commanding view of the road ahead. Practicality 7/10

There are just seven colors to choose from, with only solid black being a no-cost option. The Red Multi-Coat of our video car is a £1400 option, though we’d recommend darker hues like the £900 Midnight Silver Metallic to help reduce the Model X’s visual mass. The standard issue 20-inch wheels are finished in silver, but can also be ordered in a gunmetal effect known as ‘Sonic Carbon’ for £1900.

Running Costs & Fuel Economy 9/10

In terms of ownership, an all-electric car brings benefits such as no fees in the London congestion charge and zero company-car Benefit In Kind (BIK). Although the Model X would pay no road tax based on CO2 emissions, it would be eligible for a ‘premium rate tax’, which is an annual flat-rate fee of £310 per year, for five years, for any vehicle with an official list price more than £40,000.

As for power source, the argument improves further. Petrol remains a key revenue provider for the British government and is taxed accordingly. About 65 percent of the price we pay at the pumps goes into funding public spending. By comparison, an electric car charged from the grid will generate about 5 percent of This goes some way to explain why petrol costs 120p per litre, while the average cost per kilowatt hour a kWh is a standard measurement of energy that refers to a person using 1,000 watts of electricity for one hour is around 14p.

Taking a Model X 100D as our example, that means it would cost around £14 to ‘juice up’ from the grid, while offering a New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) range of 351 miles. We reckon 270 miles is a more realistic range, but even still, you’d imagine an equivalent petrolpowered rival requiring at least £70 of fuel for the same output.