On the morning of September 21, 2015, I received an email from Tesla.
It was an invite to the Model X Launch Party.
It is a surprising invite as my wife and I do not have a reservation for the Model X. The event was going to be held at Fremont and I figured to go ahead and RSVP positively as Tesla events tend to “sell out” quickly. I figured that we could always cancel a positive RSVP if it turned out that we would not be able to make the 350+ miles from our home to the party.
We decided to go.
The trip to Fremont is approximately 350 miles and through a minimum of two superchargers for us (assuming a good charge at home to start.) However, it would turn out that this trip will be using a Loaner 70D and not our S85. I will write about the trip in a later blog post and focus this post on the actual Model X Launch Party and our impressions of the car itself.
So, the start of the party is at a Fremont location that used to be the Solyndra headquarters. This is the same building that Tesla was recently in the news for Tesla’s expansion into the space. It’s nice to see Tesla re-purposing a new asset for this party before they re-furbish the location for their expansion. We’ll start this post with our arrival at the location.
Tesla expected a lot of people to the event that they secured off-site parking and provided shuttle services. We had expected to be directed to these overflow lots, but lucked out and parked in the event parking location.
With a happy Dennis at the end of the line for the event. Tesla was pretty well organized at the early portion of the event and the line was winding in an orderly manner. However, the line was longer than the barriers and folks were asked to line up without the guiding barriers very soon after.
There was a drone taking pictures.
I was preparing to report on the event for my Twitter followers. So, I had my mobile reporting devices/phones at the ready.
However, soon after the doors opened and the second set of folks in the line got into the building, the crowd descended into chaos and those of us following the queue were at a disadvantage. What had once been one of the more orderly starts to a Tesla event, morphed into a free-for-all.
Knowing how late Elon usually is for these things, we knew that as late as we may be, Elon will be later. As we entered into the building, we were greeted by a Big X… which obviously marks the spot.
There was a cool “red carpet background” off to the left of the entrance which makes for ideal photo opportunity.
Once in the building, we were in a large room for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
Since we drove to the event, I made sure to have my usual “virgin” Rum and Diet Coke… We parked ourselves in the back of the room, in an elevated stand so that we can have a good view. Walking around the room, I spotted a garage door in the main room.
As we were wondering if the X was going to be driving out of that garage, that notion was quashed when it turned out that Tesla had other ideas, as a new set of doors opened and the cars were being presented in ANOTHER great room.
We tried to hang out in the reveal room
We had a rather tough view from the right side (a function of many people and being “height-challenged”) Our view of Elon was not as good as the one for the D Event.
We heard Elon discuss the car’s self-opening front doors. The biohazard air filtration that the Model X is equipped with.
We noticed that there was video of the event from the original “holding room.” So we headed back there to get a better view.
We had a better view of the festivities, but a poor opportunity for further pictures. (like the one with the Model X pulling the Airstream, etc.)
So, we just watched the rest of the presentation from the holding room.
One thing that we did get to do was to get in line for a ride in a production Model X.
This was through the randomized badge holders that we received when we got to the event and we got our numbers in the 600s for the ride. Which meant a long wait in the outdoor lounge area.
We got to meet people and see the cars be driven.
As we waited, kept taking pictures of folks on their drives.
Several hours later, our number was called… And we got to stand in line again.
This was another 30 or so minutes of waiting, and we were getting closer to the front.
As we got closer to midnight, we were up. As luck would have it. we would HAVE to be a Blue one for our ride…
And your author has to get a shot in front of the one we’re riding.
We did shoot a video inside the car, but we were running out of juice on our devices as we got to ride just after midnight.
We did get some stills of the car that we were riding in. But since there were two of us, we got to sit in the second row seats. The vehicle we were in was outfitted with the three row second seat configuration.
The hinge of the Falcon Wing.
The empty second row we sat in.
We headed back in to get a close up look at Elon’s Founder VIN #1.
It’s a beauty…
There is no removable nosecone on the Model X, it’s all one piece.
Headlights look different from the S 
Full car, but folks seem ok…
A fine detail from the outside that tells you it’s a Founder’s series Model S.
In closer
Patiently waiting for my turn inside Elon’s car’s driver’s seat.
Finally in the front seat.
Fiddling around
Frunk space
A closer look at the Model X Frunk
Better view of the falcon hinge.
Step in.
The screens from the driver’s seat.
The Panoramic Windscreen
The sunvisor on the side
Sunvisor extended
Another shot of Vin 1 again.
Opening the Falcon Doors…
Here is the door opening in a video.
In front of Elon’s car.
We left the party late… But there were still folks in line for their rides.
We enjoyed the vehicle and the event. The event was packed and the disorganization apparent, but that has been the typical of Tesla events. It took forever to get a ride in the Model X. As I had previously mentioned, we were surprised to have been invited to the Model X Launch and appreciate it. I can say that after taking the time to experience the vehicle, we are now tempted to get one. Eventually. Perhaps in a few years when there are more CPO Model X we would pick one up.
There are more pictures at our flickr album, as usual –
