Tesla X e-SUV to sport monster touchscreen on the dash

Gull-wing doors? 85kWh battery? Pah!

Car writers are focusing on the Tesla X's gull-wing doors, but it's the electric SUV's touchscreen-tastic dashboard that does it for us.

Like the Model S that the e-car company showed off at the Detroit Motor Show in January, the X will sport a 17in touchscreen as the basis of its control system.

Satnav, in-car entertaiment, car telematics - they'll all get space on the enormous display, seen here in Tesla's rendering of the X dash:

And there's a secondary colour LCD used to display drive information for the driver, you'll note.

Here's a snap of the same kind of dash layout in the Model S to give you a flavour of it in the real world:

You'll have to wait for the X, mind. In the US, it's not due to go on sale until 2014, by which time the Model S will be out in both the States and the UK - it's expected here next year, but ships in the US in April.

Tesla says the X will go into production in late 2013. It'll be offered with a choice of 60kWh or 85kWh battery, and in rear-wheel and all-wheel drive configurations.

The X goes from 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds, Tesla said. Pricing will be in the region of $60,000 (£38,000).

Here are some snaps: