Developed from the full-sized sedan platform of the Tesla Model S, the vehicle notably uses falcon wing doors for passenger access.

[10] After one full year on the market, in 2016, the Model X ranked seventh among the world's best-selling plug-in cars.

[13] However, in February 2013, the company announced that deliveries had been rescheduled to begin by late 2014 in order to achieve its production target of 20,000 Model S cars in 2013.

[14] In November 2013, Tesla said it expected to begin Model X high volume production the second quarter of 2015.

Post purchase, owners have the option to unlock the additional 15 kWh, bringing the 60D to 75D range specifications.

[24] In October 2016 Tesla discontinued the 60D version and made the "Smart Air Suspension" standard instead of coil springs, increasing the base price to $85,000.

In August 2017, Tesla announced that HW2.5 included a secondary processor node to provide more computing power and additional wiring redundancy to slightly improve reliability; it also enabled dashcam and sentry mode capabilities.

[39]In an engineering refresh in May 2019, range was increased to 325 mi (523 km) and smart air suspension was added.

In September 2023, Tesla heavily discounted the price of a base Long Range Model X In the United States to US$79,990, allowing it to fall under the US$80,000 MSRP cap for a federal tax rebate under Inflation Reduction Act.

The Model X has standard a collision avoidance system that uses radar-based autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and side-directed ultrasound detection that steers the car away from threats.

Tesla uses a wide-band radar system to help prevent the falcon wing doors from hitting nearby objects when opening or closing.

The Model X offers room for seven adults and their luggage in three rows of seating and front and rear trunks.

[53] At the 55 mph (89 km/h) towing speed limit in California,[54] a Model X may have 70% of the 257 mi (414 km) EPA-registered range when pulling a 2,300 lb (1,000 kg) travel trailer.

[76] According to Tesla, with 5,428 units sold in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2016, the Model X captured a 6% market share of the luxury SUV market segment, outselling Porsche and Land Rover, but behind seven SUV models manufactured by Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Volvo, Audi, and Lexus.

[79] With an estimated 9,500 units delivered worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2016,[73] global sales in 2016 totaled 25,312 Model X cars, allowing the Model X to rank seventh among the world's top ten best-selling plug-in cars just in its first full year in the market.

[11] The United States is its main country market with 18,240 units delivered through December 2016,[11] of which, an estimated 18,028 Model X vehicles were delivered during 2016, making the electric SUV the third best-selling plug-in electric in the American market that year after the Tesla Model S and the Chevrolet Volt.

[85] Consumer Reports wrote that the all-wheel-drive Model X 90D largely disappoints, as rear doors are prone to pausing and stopping, the second-row seats that cannot be folded, and the cargo capacity is too limited.

[86] Car and Driver, despite some criticism of the Model X's falcon wing doors, approved of the panoramic windshield, stating "We were left dumbfounded, like slack-jawed tourists endlessly looking upward.

[97] For every mission, the cars carry special license plates, for example: On May 15, 2018, the Tesla Model X and Qantas set the Guinness World Record for "heaviest tow by an electric production passenger vehicle."

The Model X was able to tow a 287,000 lb (130,000 kg) Boeing 787–9 nearly one thousand feet (300 metres) on a taxiway at Melbourne Airport.

[105] In 2017 Chinese newspaper Xinhua reported that security researchers from Keen Security Lab at Tencent were able to remotely gain control of the Tesla Model X, allowing them to remotely open the car's doors, blink the lights and control their brakes.

[106] As of February 2020[update], Tesla has had four product safety recalls the Model X: On June 13, 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced its crash testing results for the 2017-manufactured Tesla Model X, revealing 5-star ratings in all assessed categories, the only SUV to have done so.

[111][112] Tesla attributed the ratings to safety-focused design, in addition to a low centre-of-gravity resulting from its battery pack, adding "More than just resulting in a 5-star rating, the data from NHTSA's testing shows that Model X has the lowest probability of injury of any SUV it has ever tested.