Verdict After nearly 700km of testing with both cars, it’s fair to say that the Tesla is indeed a capable tow vehicle, provided you keep the distances relatively short and plan around charge station locations. Overall average - Penrith to Bathurst to Penrith Fuel and energy consumption will always depend on the driving conditions, which is why we chose different routes for each leg of our testing. Averaged across the two legs, towing the caravan with the Model X used 101 per cent more energy than without, or halved its driving range, which sounds a bit scary. The LandCruiser by comparison added 63 per cent on average, which is still a big difference, but matters less in the real world when its big fuel tanks would still give you about 760km of driving range, which can be refilled quickly at any diesel-stocked servo. So you could do a weekend trip with the caravan from Penrith with one supercharge in Bathurst, but it would’ve been highly unlikely to manage the extra 55km if you were leaving from Sydney CBD. The bottom line is that there’s plenty of things - like smaller camper trailers - lighter than our caravan that will help the Tesla to do the towing job better right now. Compared to the ‘Cruiser, the Tesla is a lesson in the benefits of a lower centre of gravity and road-focused handling. As always, bigger batteries and more recharge points will go a long way to rectifying the Tesla’s towing shortcomings, and I'm sure we'll get there eventually. But no matter what, its acceleration performance under load is simply excellent. Thanks to our friends at Avida for making this test possible with the use of the 17-foot Avida Wave Tourer Electric Pop-Top single-axle caravan. They can also be reached on 1300 428 432. Verdict The Zeekr 7X looks better in the metal, impresses with its European cabin ambiance and slick build quality from behind the wheel, and dazzles with its impressive specifications and wild software. There’s unfortunately a lot riding on local calibration, all the way from ride and handling to driver assist tech. We’ve driven cars from new brands which initially look impressive, but end up being infuriating to live with, and it will only take local testing in the second half of 2025 to figure out whether Zeekr can manage to bypass some of the teething issues its rivals have faced. It’s also a shame some combination of ADRs and the relatively small size of our market will kill off some of the coolest features this car gets overseas. Regardless, there’s an impressive product here at least on our limited initial impressions, one which leans on its blended DNA to seemingly provide the best of both worlds - Chinese forward-facing tech, with European platform design. If this sounds like it could call out to you the Zeekr 7X is certainly a launch in 2025 worth keeping an eye on. Driving Energy consumption is just one element of a tow vehicle though, with stability, braking and acceleration performance being the most important details. The big ‘Cruiser is always a safe bet for towing heavy loads, but it's fair to say its off-road ability, tall body and short wheelbase mean it could be better on the road, and the Tesla goes some way to proving that. With all those batteries mounted nice and low, the Tesla is significantly more stable with 1.7 tonnes on the back than the LandCruiser, in all conditions. It’s also helped by that longer wheelbase. The Tesla’s airbag suspension is another surprise advantage, and while it can be a bit choppy around town over minor bumps, bigger bumps on the highway are soaked up really nicely and it all settles quicker than with the LandCruiser - even with the caravan on the back. Tesla is famous for instant acceleration at any speed, and this effect remains when towing. The LandCruiser’s twin-turbo V8 (with max torque available from 1600-2600rpm) has long been a benchmark for tow vehicles, but the Model X makes it feel sluggish by comparison. You know how caravan vehicles are usually the slow ones up hills? This time, we were the ones doing the overtaking, even up the steep bends heading out of Lithgow. To overtake, it just takes the slightest flex of your right foot. Clearly there’s a big caveat though when it comes to how much energy it’s consuming while you’re enjoying that performance, and it’s deceptive because it doesn’t make any more noise like a conventional engine when you’re pushing it. You’d also think the weight of the van would overcome the engine-braking effect of the regenerative brakes, but they are still very effective at conserving your brakes downhill and preventing the car from running away from you, and no doubt giving the batteries a bigger boost at the same time. On that note, the LandCruiser’s cruise control also does a great job of witholding speed on downhill runs, proactively dropping gears to engine brake enough to keep the Avida Wave in check. Driving I had a very short test drive of the top-spec AWD Performance 7X on a test course at the brand’s home test circuit at Ningbo, which included a pre-prepared ‘off-road’ feature and about two laps around the car park. So our drive impressions are limited. Still, the 7X immediately feels the part from behind the wheel. Heavy, purposeful steering communicates the heft of an electric premium SUV well, and the top-spec air suspension handled its weight nicely on a curve course. The big brakes certainly work well and the ride dispatched a set of speed bumps with ease. The ‘off-road’ section, a steep incline designed to be mounted sideways to showcase the car’s clever torque-vectoring traction system, was also easy to navigate, and the additional clearance provided by setting the active suspension to its off-road setting was notable. Additionally, the set of surround cameras were some of the better ones I’ve used lately to get a sense of where the important bits of the car actually are when you can’t see yourself. From what I could tell, though, you can certainly feel the weight of the massive 100kWh battery pack, so don’t expect the 7X to be an ultra agile machine. You can also feel the increase in dimensions compared to a Model Y - this is certainly a larger SUV. Still, the quality of the cabin and the ambiance inside jumped out at me, as did the sleek software and overall premium feel. Make sure to check in prior to the local launch of the 7X for more detailed impressions of cars with local calibration settings. It’s likely Australian delivered cars will receive regional damper settings, and as always, the calibration of the driver assist systems will be key. Even in my brief steer I felt the faint tug of lane keep assist on the wheel, so here’s hoping these features score their own local calibration which isn’t deal-breaking on day one. I was also able to sample this car’s lower riding sibling, the 007 sedan, on the track. It proved as violently quick as you’d expect with its impressive specifications, although wrangling such power and weight requires a pretty strict electronic stability control (ESC) system. That occasionally sucks the fun out of corners and makes the car feel like it sometimes knows what’s best (and actually, maybe it does). The brakes also proved to fatigue quickly at track velocities, although the same can be said for most EVs I’ve sampled, aside from the Audi e-tron GT which had impressive sustain. If you’ve got your eye on this class of vehicle then, it might be worth the wait to compare it to the likes of the techy Audi Q6 e-tron, sedate but predictable BMW iX3, and decidedly more intriguing Polestar 3. Interested in a Tesla Model X? Insurance Quote