Elon Musk's Data Doesn't Back Up His Claims of New York Times Fakery

Post by 001sky » Fri, Feb 15, 2013, 2:10 AM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #116

lawdawg wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you (or 99% of HN) read the NYT article? "When I parked the car, its computer said I had 90 miles of range, twice the 46 miles back to Milford. It was a different story at 8:30 the next morning. The thermometer read 10 degrees and the display showed 25 miles of remaining range" "I called Tesla in California, and the official I woke up said I needed to “condition” the battery pack to restore the lost energy." Look…

The NYT upgraded their paywall this week, so there is a good chance that most of HN did not in fact read the NYT article before commenting on it. Also, there is a disturbing amount of herd mentality in these comments; people are instinctively shielding/supporting Elon Musk, a fellow techie, rather than the "interloping" journalist, even though even a cursory Google search of other reviews of the Model S, the Roadster…

Post by damoncali » Fri, Feb 15, 2013, 2:53 AM UTC

halviti wrote: post #109

lawdawg wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you (or 99% of HN) read the NYT article? "When I parked the car, its computer said I had 90 miles of range, twice the 46 miles back to Milford. It was a different story at 8:30 the next morning. The thermometer read 10 degrees and the display showed 25 miles of remaining range" "I called Tesla in California, and the official I woke up said I needed to “condition” the battery pack to restore the lost energy." Look…

Nobody is lying, but if you get in your car and it tells you that you can only you can only go 25 miles, do you really think it's ok to drive over twice that?

Post by vor_ » Fri, Feb 15, 2013, 3:05 AM UTC

BiosElement wrote: post #201

InvisibleCities wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you've missed the most important part of that paragraph: >"...Tesla’s experts said that pumping in a little energy would help restore the power lost overnight as a result of the cold weather, and after an hour they cleared me to resume the trip to Milford." Tesla themselves cleared Broder to make the trip. If I was driving a BMW with a BMW engineer in the front seat, and he told me that I would be able to mak…

Because it's nearly impossible to prove a negative.

Post by demallien » Fri, Feb 15, 2013, 3:15 AM UTC

lawdawg wrote: post #107

scarmig wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that that's the weirdest part of the journalist's story. Why doesn't Musk focus on that? Instead of trying to discredit the reporter by saying he maliciously lied about when he turned the heat on or off by a couple miles, or whether the car had actually run out of juice at the very end.

Because focusing on that would be admitting that: 1. The Tesla lost ~65 miles worth of range overnight 2. That their staff told Mr. Broder that the lost miles would return on their own.

Post by beedogs » Fri, Feb 15, 2013, 3:25 AM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #99

halviti wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read all the arguments on both sides, and while both have made good points, there is one that stands out. This reporter clearly barely made any attempt at recharging his empty vehicle in Norwich, and then attempted a drive well beyond the car's capabilities, then made the "running out of fuel" his headline. If he would have done this on gasoline, the result would have been the same, and I think that is getting l…

Other Tesla owners have reported this exact problem (inaccurate charging gauge) in the Roadster; other reviewers have noted this problem in the Model S. Moreoever, this problem is endemic to all pure-electric vehicles in cold climates, such as Nissan Leafs and Chevy Volts. (Google for references) Ergo, the likelihood of (1) the reporter not fully charging his car's battery and (2) the fuel guage inaccurately reportin…