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Comparison of Model X vs Model S Storage Space

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From the outside, the Tesla Model X crossover SUV shares similar dimensions and styling cues with the Model S sedan. Both vehicles are just shy of 200 inches in length, and both vehicles have front and rear axles situated on each end of the skateboard style floor-mounted battery, thus sharing similar wheelbase dimensions of 120 in (304.8 cm) for the Model X and a slightly shorter 116.5 (295.9 cm) for the Model S.

Despite the similarities, there’s distinct differences in features and amenities between the electric crossover and sedan that could impact everyday practicality depending on your lifestyle.

We’ll be doing a multi-part series comparing select features of the Model X vs Model S, but for the purpose of this post, we’re taking a look at differences in storage space between the two vehicles.

Model X vs Model S Cargo Space

The Model X is a taller and roomier vehicle than the Model S, but when it comes to rear cargo space, the Model S actually has more useable storage space. Here’s why, and it’s quite simple.

The Model S second row seats fold flat leaving for an expansive open space that can store anything from long dresser bureaus to even skis!

Pictured above: Model S trunk with full-size folding electric bike and a full set of winter wheels and tires

The Model X on the other hand has third row seating that can also fold flat, but the overall length of storage is constrained by the backs of the second row seats. These seats do not fold down and instead capable of sliding back and forth on the seat’s mono post track in order to maximize trunk space.

Model-X-vs-Model-S-Trunk-Space

Model S (left) vs Model X (right) trunk space comparison [Source: JH Photography via YouTube]

One benefit the Model X cargo space has over the Model S is the taller overall height within the trunk. This allows for vertical stacking of cargo as seen in the following video by JH Photography. They do an excellent job performing a side-by-side comparison of both trunks.

 

Nooks, Crannies and Cupholders

Yes, cupholders. The Model S was designed with an open center space between the two front seats given Musk’s appreciation for clean and open designs. But it wasn’t before long that owners realized they just couldn’t live without the convenience of a personal storage compartment and cupholder. Thus the Tesla center console movement was born, spearheaded by the folks at EVannex.

Tesla seems to have learned that people want their creature comforts and lots of it. The Model X comes standard with personal storage space and cupholders between every row of seats. They’ve also incorporated storage space into the lower door panels and USB ports directly in the front center section of the second row.

Model-X-3rd-Row-Seat-Cupholders

Tesla Model X 3rd row seat cupholders

 

saabkyle04 has produced a comprehensive video walkthrough of the Model X that’s really worth checking out. Since the video is nearly 40 minutes long, we’ve embedded only the portion of the video that highlights the Model X center console.

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Front Trunk a.k.a.”frunk” Space

Early versions of the Model S without the dual motor configuration have an empty space in the area beneath the front windshield wipers. This extra “cubby” also known as “the microwave”, due to its rectangular shape, makes for remarkable storage capacity beneath the hood.

Rear wheel drive Model S frunk

Rear wheel drive Model S frunk [Source: Electric Jen]

Later versions of the Model S with the dual motor configuration lost the additional microwave storage area. The same goes for the Model X which also sees a front motor mounted in the same section where the microwave would be.

Referencing the video by JH Photography, we can see that Model X frunk is quite spacious. Though it’s not large enough to hold two full size golf bags as mentioned by Elon during the Model X reveal, the huge frunk can accommodate a single golf bag, and some luggage.

 

Gene has been obsessed with cars since before he could legally sit in the front seat. Writer, researcher, unofficial CS support, accountant, native suit guy when needed, and overall stick poker. He approaches every story the way he approaches a road trip: with too much enthusiasm, not enough planning, and a surprisingly good outcome. gene@teslarati.com

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Tesla Robotaxi gets a massive upgrade in Nevada

Nevada regulators just approved a massive expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi fleet across the entire county.

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

Tesla’s robotaxi footprint in Nevada just grew by roughly 500 times in a single regulatory vote.

The Nevada Transportation Authority approved Tesla’s full Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit on Thursday, clearing the way for the company to deploy up to 5,000 driverless vehicles across Clark County over the next 12 months. The decision came during a four hour general session meeting that Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt watched live and reported on X, noting the vote replaces the interim order that had limited Tesla to just 10 robotaxis on a narrow stretch of the Las Vegas Strip.

That earlier cap, covered here after it surfaced on August 13, came with restrictions that looked stricter than what Tesla runs in Austin: a 45 mph speed ceiling, no airport pickups, and a geofence confined to the Strip corridor. The new approval extends Tesla’s operating authority to all of Clark County, with room to request an even wider geofence across the state.

Tesla representatives at the meeting said they have no intention of putting 5,000 cars on the road right away. Commercial rides are expected to start within 30 days, pending vehicle inspections, insurance filings, and fare approval, the standard steps every robotaxi operator in Nevada has had to clear.

Tesla’s own Robotaxi account replied to the news with a short line, The golden future is upon us.

The timing lines up with Tesla’s broader robotaxi push this month. The company is preparing to open Cybercab rides to the public in Austin as soon as this month, and it opened a sweepstakes for riders to win a seat at the launch event. Tesla filed its original application for a 5,000 vehicle Nevada fleet back in June, a request regulators trimmed to 10 vehicles when they issued the interim order in July. Thursday’s vote effectively grants the number Tesla asked for from the start.

Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi operator, has run in Nevada since 2025 and was capped at 100 vehicles before Thursday’s decision. Tesla’s new ceiling puts it well ahead of that comparison on paper, though the company has said its actual fleet size will depend on how quickly FSD v15 rolls out, the software update executives have called the gateway to scaling unsupervised robotaxi operations nationwide.

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India tells Elon Musk’s X to “Follow the Law” in latest censorship update

Elon Musk says X now exposes government censorship, but India’s secrecy laws complicate that promise.

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Elon Musk’s promise to make government censorship requests on X “clearly visible” is running into a wall in India, where the law forbids the very disclosure Musk is promising.

On August 15, Musk responded to an update from X’s open-source algorithm team by writing “Any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible.” The claim referred to a change X pushed two days earlier to its public xai-org/x-algorithm repository, which now includes a controversial filter written directly into the code. The filter suppresses posts from 665 accounts flagged by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court from appearing in the For You feed of any viewer located in Brazil, unless the viewer already follows the account. The election tied to the filter is scheduled for October 4.

India’s government wasn’t as impressed, and responded on Monday that “X will have to follow the law of the land,” in response to Musk’s transparency push covered by the Times of India. The problem is structural rather than political. India issues content blocking orders under Section 69A of its IT Act, and Rule 16 of the accompanying 2009 Blocking Rules requires those orders to stay confidential. Publishing an India equivalent of the Brazil filter, naming specific accounts and citing specific government orders, would itself violate Indian law. Government use of Section 69A has grown from roughly 6,000 orders a year between 2018 and 2023 to about 24,300 in 2025, according to a Tech Times report.

Elon Musk shares details on X vs. Brazil conflict

The contrast puts Musk’s transparency pledge in an odd spot. It works largely as advertised in Brazil, where electoral law requires disclosure and X can point to specific account IDs and a specific court order in public code. It cannot work the same way in India, where the law requires the opposite. X users in India will keep seeing content disappear from search and their feeds without any public accounting of why, even as X tells the rest of the world that its censorship compliance is now inspectable.

This isn’t the first time X’s fights with a national government have shaped how the platform operates. Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X to suspend the accounts of sitting lawmakers and journalists in 2024, a standoff that cost X its Brazilian revenue for months and froze Starlink’s local accounts before the investigation into Musk and X was closed in March with no evidence of wrongdoing found. X also sued California over a state law requiring moderation disclosures, arguing the mandate itself violated the First Amendment.

Whether India’s government pursues anything beyond a public statement remains to be seen. For now, the mismatch between what X can legally publish and what different governments legally allow it to publish is the real story behind Musk’s seven word claim.

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Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor

Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”

The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”

DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.

SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.

Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.

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