Tesla Model X 2017 electric car owner review

Kevin Buck drives a Tesla Model X 100D 95kWh 2017.

This is Kevin’s fourth electric car, he’s owned the Model X 4-5 years and drives 10,000-15,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 70,000-80,000 miles and he achieves 250 miles from a full charge.

Why did you choose the Tesla Model X?

I wanted a large SUV, as I came out of Merc ML BiTurbo V8. The Model X in 6 seat configuration is ideal for this. Also, as an early adopter, I wanted the reassurance of the Supercharger network. Tesla aftersales service is also second to none!!

Positives

Software interface and functionality is years (if not decades) ahead of the competition. The remarkable achievement of self-driving by ‘vision’ (cameras) alone simply cannot be overstated. Continuous OTA updates should be the norm for all OEMs!

Negatives

Having come out of a many Mercedes previously, criticism of the build quality of the early ones might be fair to some degree. However, they are by no means unacceptable IMO. Today, build quality is much improved. I still own the 2017 Model X and have no plans to get rid of it, it does all I need.

Compared to when you first bought the car, does your battery still charge at the same rate & do you still get the same range?

I bought the car as an approved used model from Tesla at 2 years old with 20k miles on the clock. When set to real world range and 90% charge, the car would charge to 241 miles. Now 7 years old and 80k miles on the clock, the car charges to 235 miles at 90%. So only 2.5% battery degradation from when I bought it.

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

The main issues have been two front axle drive shafts and two front axle wheel hubs replaced under the (extended) Tesla used car warranty (only due to slight play in them). Front trunk latch seized at around 76k miles, so was replaced (again, under warranty). A couple of minor ‘car bits’ but the motors and battery have been 100% trouble free.

What are the standout technological features of the car?

Again, it is the large centre screen and software functionality & interface. In particular, as an X, it has the driver’s binnacle behind the steering wheel and I would not want to be without that. It has a lot of additional info about what’s going on inside and outside the car that you wouldn’t want to glance over to the centre screen for. I would definitely miss that if not there, especially as I have a yoke fitted, so it is always 100% visible to the driver.

In terms of specific software, the standout is the Supercharger network on long journeys. The effortlessness of just typing in your destination and the software just takes care of it all cannot be understated, especially for the early adopters who might have suffered from range anxiety.

Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car

In the 6-seat configuration, it’s the perfect family car. 6 adults and a dog can all fit comfortably. Storage is not an issue either. With no fuel tank etc, there is ample under trunk (boot), as well as trunk storage and of course, frunk storage. We have been on family holidays with 5 adults, the dog and luggage and it all fits fine.

If you need or want a large family SUV EV, there is nothing that comes close to the 6-seat Model X, in my opinion. As far as I’m concerned, I see no new EV on the horizon that does all the Model X can do, that would entice me to move away from it. At 7 years old and 80k miles, but with continual refreshes and over the air updates, it remains modern, relevant and does all I need it to, whilst still having lost virtually no range on the traction battery.

What’s the biggest or funniest myth you’ve heard about EVs?

The battery needs replacing after 5 years! PLEASE!!!

What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?

As a family we already own a Tesla Model X, a VW e-Up! (wife), a Renault Zoe (daughter) and a Peugeot e-208 (daughter’s boyfriend). We are 100% EV as a family and all of us love it!

Home charging unit

Started out with a zappi 2 home charger which was fine for some time. However, after about 2 years, an issue developed between the charger and the Tesla Model X, which resulted in the charging cutting out with a fault code after 10 minutes. Even with excellent customer support from myenergi and Tesla, it was never possible to find or fix the problem. After much effort, firmware, software and technical support, both said the fault was traced to the ‘charge port’ but Tesla said there was no fault there and myenergi said the same. So I was left with no alternative but to change the charger. Now we have a Tesla Gen 3 home wall charger and never had an issue.

Electricity supplier & tariff

Octopus Energy – they are, by a huge margin, the best energy company to deal with! They are easily contactable, their agents understand the market and the products they provide and their customer service is second to none and not just when comparing energy companies!

We’re on a smart tariff and we also have a heat pump, solar panels and 3 x Tesla Powerwall 2s. This means nearly all our electricity consumption is between 23:30 and 05:30 at 7p per kWh, which is when we also charge the cars.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

Tesla Superchargers – in 5 years, have never found one that didn’t work
GRIDSERVE – they’ve always worked when we ‘tap and go’.

Some of the other major players are upping their game now and chargers fitted within the last 18 months or so should all be good. The ones I always avoid are bp pulse. My personal experience with them over the years has been horrendous to the point that they were unusable. They couldn’t even see or control their own network when you phone them up! I accept it may have changed over the last 2-3 years but I’ll wait until I see more positive feedback about them before considering using a bp one again.

Insurer

LV= they were by far the cheapest on EVs to start with. However, they seemed to have really upped their prices lately and now only 2 of our EVs are with them (Model X & the e-Up!).

Please itemise where you’re saving money (or not) owning & running a Tesla Model X

Before buying the Model X, I drove a Mercedes ML V8 Biturbo, it had a 96 litre fuel tank. When I bought the Model X, I was paying £1.25ltr, so it was costing £120 per fill. I was using, on average, 3 tanks of fuel a month, so spending around £360 a month on fuel for just one car.

The Model X costs me less than £40 per month to charge. So on 1 car, we have a saving of £320 per month. With 4 EVs in the house, we easily save over £500 per month compared to fuel costs for ICE.