My wife and I went to the Meet Model X event yesterday. On our agenda was to evaluate the space inside when two child carseats were installed, and evaluate the space for taller folks when combined with child seats. What was not on our agenda was evaluating the number of seats, we were sure that we wanted 7, because we want to be able to move people. With 7 seats, there would be more occasions we could take one car, rather than two.
The first cracks in the 7 seat plan became apparent when my mom did not want to ride in the 3rd row during the test drive because she felt claustrophobic sitting back there. (I sat back there and was fine, but perhaps I am the ideal height, 5'9", not too short like my mom, who could not see over the seats well, nor too tall such that my knees would be against the front seat).
After the test drive, there was a showroom with both a 6 and 7 seat configuration and we spent a lot of time in both.
It turns out that neither our infant (Nuna Pipa) nor toddler (Orbit G3) child seats would fit in the 3rd row in rear facing configuration (they both fit fine in the 2nd row). This would mean we would have both on both sides in the 2nd row, and while it was possible for my mom to fit in-between them, getting in there would be an ordeal. (Booster seats fit fine anywhere, you could have 5 of them in the 7 seat configuration.)
The 6 seater Model X seems much more spacious than the 7 seater, which feels cramped. This has to be experienced to understand the difference, but it is rather striking.
The winning argument was this though, in the 7 seater version, my wife would hate to get stuck in the back row. She would feel cramped and uncomfortable (and when we have kids and grandparents in the car, the likelihood she would get stuck in the back is rather high). In the 6 seater version, she can stretch her legs out in the middle, and she would actually prefer the 3rd row to the 2nd row. In the 6 seater, the two of us sat side by side in the 3rd row without any discomfort.
While we would hate to sacrifice that extra seat (because people moving is the whole reason we would move from our Model S to a Model X), we came to the conclusion that comfort was also important. And a 6 seater Model X could carry 2 more people comfortably (2 adults each in 1st and 3rd rows, with 2 children in the 2nd row) than our model S (2 adults in 1st row, 2 children in 2nd row).
-Brent
The first cracks in the 7 seat plan became apparent when my mom did not want to ride in the 3rd row during the test drive because she felt claustrophobic sitting back there. (I sat back there and was fine, but perhaps I am the ideal height, 5'9", not too short like my mom, who could not see over the seats well, nor too tall such that my knees would be against the front seat).
After the test drive, there was a showroom with both a 6 and 7 seat configuration and we spent a lot of time in both.
It turns out that neither our infant (Nuna Pipa) nor toddler (Orbit G3) child seats would fit in the 3rd row in rear facing configuration (they both fit fine in the 2nd row). This would mean we would have both on both sides in the 2nd row, and while it was possible for my mom to fit in-between them, getting in there would be an ordeal. (Booster seats fit fine anywhere, you could have 5 of them in the 7 seat configuration.)
The 6 seater Model X seems much more spacious than the 7 seater, which feels cramped. This has to be experienced to understand the difference, but it is rather striking.
The winning argument was this though, in the 7 seater version, my wife would hate to get stuck in the back row. She would feel cramped and uncomfortable (and when we have kids and grandparents in the car, the likelihood she would get stuck in the back is rather high). In the 6 seater version, she can stretch her legs out in the middle, and she would actually prefer the 3rd row to the 2nd row. In the 6 seater, the two of us sat side by side in the 3rd row without any discomfort.
While we would hate to sacrifice that extra seat (because people moving is the whole reason we would move from our Model S to a Model X), we came to the conclusion that comfort was also important. And a 6 seater Model X could carry 2 more people comfortably (2 adults each in 1st and 3rd rows, with 2 children in the 2nd row) than our model S (2 adults in 1st row, 2 children in 2nd row).
-Brent