techcrunch.com/2013/02/14/elon-musk-lays-out-his-evidence-that-new-york-times-tesla-model-s-test-drive-was-fake -> techcrunch.com/2013/02/14/elon-musk-lays-out-his-evidence-that-new-york-times-tesla-model-s-test-drive-was-fake/
Tesla ran into issues with Top Gear, which dramatized a breakdown where none actually existed) showed that the car Broder was driving for his article was improperly charged, took an unscheduled side trip and essentially seemed to have been set up to fail. Musk breaks down what went wrong in a number of bullet points, but basically Broder's car never ran out of juice completely; was charged to a level which he knew wouldn't be enough to get to his destination at one point; was driven past charging stations which could've helped it finish the journey; and was taken for a lengthy detour through Manhattan not included in the original trip plan. Other problems add to the reported deception, including climate control settings that run counter to Broder's stated claims in the article about what he did with in-car heating (turned up the temp when he said he turned it down). The smaller details aren't necessarily the most consequential, but the fact that Musk has record of even these smaller contradictions in his test vehicle's logs helps to paint a picture of a writer who seems to have been blatantly gunning for Tesla from the start.
Broder essentially attempts to deflate the sunny image of a future filled with electric cars, claiming that "the state of the electric car is dismal, the "victim of hyped expectations, technological flops, high costs and a hostile political climate." But overall, Musk's evidence is pretty damning, especially backed up as it is by solid data from the Model S itself. He ends by calling for the NYT to launch an investigation into the article and its writing, and after an attack like this, I'd guess the NYT would have to do just that in order to be able to come up with a satisfactory response.
com Launch Date: 2003 IPO: September 7, 2010, NASDAQ:TSLA Tesla Motors, founded by Elon Musk, Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard, is a company that produces a high-performance electric sports car, and is backed by a number of high-profile investors. Introduced in June 2006 to the public complete with a test drive by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Tesla Roadster is able to go from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds (competitive with Porsche and Lamborghini models), while also delivering 100 miles per gallon (double the...
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