If you've been lusting after a cool Sports Utility Vehicle but don't want to do any more damage to the planet: good news. Tesla is finally on the case.

In a letter to shareholders, Elon Musk's electric car company confirmed Wednesday afternoon that its long-awaited Model X — an electric seven-seater SUV — will start shipping to customers this fall, specifically September.

"As we prepare to launch Model X in September, we are building more validation vehicles, executing final engineering and testing work, enabling our new manufacturing equipment and finalizing arrangements with our suppliers," Musk enthused in the letter [PDF link]. "We have been producing release candidate Model X bodies in our new body shop equipped with more than 500 robots."

Sadly, there's already a waiting list — and if you get on it now, you won't get the car until 2016. A price has not been announced, but you'll need a $5,000 deposit just to get on the list.

The Model X has been long delayed already, with early estimates suggesting it would roll off Tesla's Bay Area production line in Fremont, California at the end of 2013. This was later updated to the end of 2014. To hear Musk tell it, the company has been having trouble with suppliers.

Perhaps the coolest feature of the Model X, though, is worth waiting for: The rear doors are articulated so they go up rather than out. From the official Tesla literature:

Every Model X comes with all-wheel drive standard, powered by two independent, digitally controlled electric motors. Brilliantly functional Falcon Wing rear doors fold up and out of the way to allow easy access to third row seats.

Owning an electric SUV where the doors go up like a Delorean? That would certainly make you the coolest soccer parent in your suburb.

Investors are not that excited, however. The company released its second quarter earnings Wednesday with a smaller-than-expected net loss — $61 million in the red compared to $148 million a year ago. But, the company's shares dropped 6% in after hours trading.