New York Times Admits Tesla Writer Didn’t Exercise “Good Judgement”

New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, commented on the actions of John Broder, the writer who wrote that a Tesla Model S failed to last a trip that spanned from Delaware to Connecticut. She said that John Broder didn’t use “good judgement” when testing the car, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors said that the car’s logs suggest that John Broder may have purposefully driven the car in the worst possible way to yield the poor results mentioned below. While Sullivan defends Broder’s integrity as a journalist, she also admits that he could have done a better job in testing the Tesla Model S.

Broder initially claimed that he had to turn the heater down low, and then off, and that he drove the car at low speeds on the highway. Tesla’s logs proved Broder wrong, and Musk also criticizes Broder’s decision to not plug the Tesla in overnight at a hotel. As a result, the Tesla lost two-thirds of its estimated range, eventually leaving Broder stranded on his way back to the Milford, CT Supercharger station.  The article created a backlash against Tesla stock, and Elon Musk wasted no time in defending his electric sedan.

This suggests that there is something fishy going on, or that something is wrong with the car. This is inconsistent with the results of range tests posted on CNN Money and Autoblog Green, both of which yielded positive results, and comments from the CNN article such as:

“Not only did I have enough battery range left, I had plenty. I had at least 40 miles — more than an entire Chevy Volt’s worth of electricity — left to play with. I sped up, cruising over 70, riding in the left lane, mashing the gas pedal just to feel how fast the car could shoot from 65 to 80. I was practically giddy.

In the end, I made it — and it wasn’t that hard.”.

Source: The New York Times