--- title: "Mercedes Wants to Murder the Tesla Model X" description: "Rumored electric crossover has falcon wings stuck in its grille." date: "2015-12-22" modified: "2015-12-22" authors: - name: "Jonathan Schultz" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/jonathan-schultz" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/1412/mercedes-wants-to-murder-the-tesla-model-x" categories: - "News" tags: - "Electric Vehicle" - "Mercedes-Benz" --- # Mercedes Wants to Murder the Tesla Model X ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* Ah, the lives of strange bedfellows. A report from Germany’s *Auto Bild* has [Mercedes-Benz developing a purely electric Tesla Model X fighter](). The rumored crossover, based on Mercedes’ current GLC model, would come to global markets at the end of 2018 branded as the ELC. The EV-crossover gold rush continues apace. As the first series-production electric crossover to market, the [Tesla Model X]() is rolling around Silicon Valley and other redoubts of tech idolatry with bullseyes on its falcon-wing doors. Priced [from $80,000]() for the base 70D trim to over $130,000 for the P90D, the Model X will soon face purely electric competition from Audi’s coming Q6 E-tron, and possibly Jaguar, which hasn’t quashed persistent rumors of an electric [E-Pace]() crossover. As for the conjugal bed: It was Mercedes parent Daimler that all but rescued a foundering Tesla Motors in 2010, [taking a 4-percent stake]() in Elon Musk’s fledgling company and helping to ensure the [Model S]() was produced. Mercedes got access to Tesla’s battery-building and drivetrain knowhow (and in 2014, a [nice cash return on its investment]()); Tesla got the S-Class’s platform, switchgear and a number of other systems that found a home on the Model S. You know where else they went? A hint: X marks the spot. *Auto Bild* does not identify its well-positioned source, but notes that the rumored ELC would benchmark a 400-km (236-mile) range; generate between 75 and 400kW (roughly 100 to 535 horsepower) via one or two motors; be able to accept a charge via induction, with no cables attached; and, perhaps most outlandish of all, start at under 50,000 euros—roughly $54,000. That’s base-Model S territory for crossover heft and a three-pointed star on the grille. If a Model X is to remain the trophy of this burgeoning segment, it may need help from an outside supplier to keep costs down. Don’t expect Daimler to hop back in the sack. ![122215\_mercedesteslacompetitor\_art.jpg]() ## Author Deputy Editor. Previously held editorial positions at BBC.com and the New York Times. Brakes for whoopie pies. ### Author social links