Sunday, February 17, 2013

CNN recreates infamous Tesla Model S drive with miles to spare, others to try this weekend - VIDEO



You knew this was coming, didn't you? Even more prisms through which to look at the failed (or is that "failed"?) Tesla Model S drive up the East Coast that The New York Times reported on last weekend. We're going to assume you know what's been happening with this, but if not, then you can get caught up by reading thisthis and this. All set? Good.

Today, CNN reporter Peter Valdes-Dapena easily completed all of the miles in a Tesla Model S that the Times' John Broder reported he could not do. The takeaway line: "In the end, I made it – and it wasn't that hard." That Valdes-Dapena managed the trip is perhaps not that big of a surprise, but a small group of Model S owners will try to prove again that 200 miles is no problem, even in the winter cold, for an electric car that's officially rated at 265 miles. The owner convoy is going to set out from the Tesla Service Center in Rockville, Maryland tomorrow morning and then spend the night in Groton, Connecticut, just like Broder did, before turning south again. If you want to follow along tomorrow, stay tuned to TeslaRoadTrip on Twitter. Think it'll start trending?

Also today, Road & Track chimed in to suggest the whole affair is about way more than range, it's about trust: "If you can't fully trust Tesla, then you'll continue to be a customer for the Times. Think for a moment about Broder's article in that context: it's an advertisement for his product at the expense of Tesla's." We're not 100-percent on board with that line of thinking, but it does suggest that there is a lot of meat on the test-drive bones of the original article. Check out the CNN video of its bon voyage below for more.

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