Design Approaching the Model X for the first time, it's clearly related to the Model S, but taller and bulkier. It's a graceful design for an SUV—given the rear-window angle, you might be justified in calling it a hatchback—but from certain angles it looks stocky, lacking the feline grace of the lower Model S. The simple interior of our test car had a tasteful two-tone treatment with black and beige surfaces accented by both matte silver and wood trim. It doesn't approach the elegance of a high-end Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan of the same price, but it's not nearly as stark as the earliest Model S interiors were. 2016 Tesla Model X The interior storage and amenities, long a Model S weak point, include a center console with an armrest, map pockets and bottle holders in the front doors, six cupholders, and four USB ports. Overall, it's a family-friendly iteration on the Model S. The panoramic windshield that extends in a single sweep of glass far into the roof is impressive, but depending on how far forward a driver sits, it may not register much from behind the wheel. Taller drivers who sit back with arms fully extended will notice it more than shorter drivers and those who prefer to be somewhat closer to the wheel. The sun visors, which unfurl from their position along the windshield pillar and attach magnetically to mounts at the center of the windshield, are an engineering triumph. 2016 Tesla Model X We rather wonder if they were one of the items Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk acknowledged might better, in retrospect, have been postponed to get the Model X launched earlier and with fewer challenges. Regardless of hindsight, they work fine once you understand how to put them into place. Lack of flexibility The main challenge to the Model X's claim to be an SUV is in its rear two rows of seating. They're comfortable but deliver little of the cargo flexibility expected in a large luxury crossover. The second row is comprised of either two or three individual seats, each encased in a shiny molded-plastic shell. (We wonder what happens to that surface the first time someone kicks one in a set of golf shoes?) 2016 Tesla Model X Our test car was a six-seater, meaning the middle seat in the second row was deleted. That position is less usable than the two outboard seats, due to the loss of several inches of headroom occupied by the falcon doors' complex mechanism of torsion springs and structural reinforcements above the headliner. The center gap improves access to the third row—which is suitable for lithe teenagers but may not be all that comfortable for stockier middle-aged men. The family's children reported no issues with comfort or access. (Or so their father said.) And the width of the falcon doors may offer somewhat better access to the third row than conventional doors, though there's still the rear wheel-arch to get over, just as in any three-row vehicle. 2016 Tesla Model X The cargo space is limited behind the third row, largely due to the aggressively sloped tailgate. The pair of third-row seats folds down to open up a more-or-less conventional load bay. There's also the front trunk (which Tesla insists on calling a "frunk"). But the second-row seats don't fold; they simply slide forward and tilt up electrically to rest against the backs of the front row. The length available for cargo is thus considerably compromised. Still, Tesla says the Model X contains 40 percent more interior volume than Audi Q7, another large luxury crossover SUV with all-wheel drive. Will Model X owners want to use it to haul 4x8 sheets of plywood for home-renovation projects? We'd guess probably not. Our owner's experience has been that it holds a family of six comfortably enough on long road trips that it meets the family's needs as a primary vehicle, albeit one with a six-figure price tag. 2016 Tesla Model X We enjoyed our brief time with the car, and the owner who let us drive it has been very happy with his family's electric crossover thus far. Still, we're betting that the rumored "Model Y" smaller crossover, to be built on Model 3 underpinnings and launched before 2020, won't have falcon doors.