This first Model X prototype, spotted for the first time ever in outside California, in the state of Arizona, would seem to suggest that Tesla is testing it off road.
The example caught on camera was covered in dirt and also featured a different front end design which is closer to the Model S than the original Model X concept.
This begs the question: If Tesla is testing it off the beaten track, maybe it will be capable off road too. Think about it: it’s going to have adjustable ground clearance, all-wheel drive with torque vectoring and a low center of gravity – there would be no reason why it’d have to be terrible off road.
Tesla is undoubtedly engineering it to be a solid performer on-road, but we’re sure they’re also considering that some users may want to push their vehicle more than others. You probably won’t be able to rock crawl in one, but off-road-oriented electronics like you get on a Land Rover, it would certainly be a unique proposition.
And it’s all about the software with Teslas – the could probably make it better off-road simply by messing with the software. Maybe they’ll have separate flavors like for instance Mercedes has – one aimed at strict-road users, with the other providing more capability when tarmac runs out.
via Teslarati