Tesla X will have two electric motors and beat a Porsche 911 to 60 mph

The next electric Tesla will be an SUV that will outrun a Porsche 911 to 60 mph, carry seven passengers, handle well in both rain and snow. The Tesla X gets its power from what it calls Dual Electric Motor AWD (all wheel drive), basically one motor each for the front and rear wheels, and a 60 or 85 kWh battery.
 
The Tesla X gets its performance from the special nature of electric motors: They deliver maximum power (torque) immediately, from standstill. For the Tesla X, accelerating to 60 mph takes 4.4 seconds, the company says, better than the Porsche 911 sports car. It’s cheaper too: The price of the Tesla X will probably be around $75,000. This hasn’t been exactly set yet, but the interest was high enough that $40 million in advance orders came in in just one day from 500 buyers. That’s despite the fact that delivery isn’t until early 2014.
 
The electric drive means Tesla can easily implement safety-performance technologies. Torque vectoring, for instance, is an Audi-pioneered technology that directs more power to the outside wheels when driving around a corner. It can provide an extra measure of safety on wet or snowy roads or, for performance fanatics, lets you go faster on all roads until driver stupidity overcomes high tech, and you slide off anyway. Initially torque vectoring called for a complex differential and drivetrain. In Tesla it’s reduced to a handful of electronics that distributes the power to all four corners as needed.