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I will let Autoweek expire, you should too.

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tomas

Out of warranty...
Supporting Member
Oct 22, 2012
4,345
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Santa Barbara/New York
I've subscribed to Autoweek for most of the last 40 years. Particularly enjoyed the era of Satch Carlson, used to look forward eagerly to the weekly mail to read his column, though I understand he was let go for some grim personal lapses...

Now, after current tranche runs out in a few months, I'm letting Autoweek lapse forever. Why? They seem to take every editorial opportunity to bash Tesla Motors. Even when they post "factual" news, they find some way to coat it with snide and negative comments. As I said in a running correspondence I've had with editor Dutch Mandel, "Your magazine gushes over the great technology leaps in the new Mercedes S, every single Porsche, Corvette… but - for the first time in your lifetime or mine - there's a true technology step change out there (built in America, too) and you don't seem to be into it." You don't have to love it, but for goodness sake, if you are truly a car aficionado and an American, you HAVE TO at least ADMIRE it and root for it!!!!!

I do not expect any good journalist to sugar-coat their Tesla coverage. But the eternal snide comments such as the following just don't stop.

2013 - Dutch Mandel
"It could not be less practical for day-to-day use" - Hmm? Typical driver who drives under 200 miles per day, it could not be better!
"would sell in great volumes if it had an internal combustion engine" - Oh yeah? Why is it outselling every other competitive model?
"You get in and play with the oversized touchscreen, and when its batteries are drained, you find one of it's so-called superchargers" - Let's get real…
"If you want to go from CA to Washington DC, you might be better taking a Conestoga wagon" - lemme see, in the words of Louis CK, conestoga wagon took decades and the people who arrived were a different group than those who started. That's the PG-13 version of that comedy bit, anyway.
"Very soon our government money propping up this great electric experiment will run out" - this said AFTER Tesla paid back loan, and don't start about tax credits unless you analyze the tax breaks supporting the petroleum industry.

2014 - Mark Vaughn
"Why (would anyone) buy an untried Gen III when you can just as easily buy a fully warrantied BMW i3, Toyota RAV4 EV…" - Well, you could have said the same thing about the Model S and it's competition, couldn't you? I could turn that around and say "if you're buying an electric car, why would you buy it from anyone BUT Tesla?"
"Will (Tesla) continue to offer free electricity for life to all Tesla owners? At 10 cents a kWh time 12,000 miles a year times 500,000 cars…" - This is just foolishness, 90% of Tesla charging is in garage.
"Success as a boutique carmaker catering solely to early adopter Silicon Valley zillionares who buy cars in relatively small numbers is one thing. Success selling in the vast, soft-white, affordable sedan segment's underbelly is quite another" - Only one question, now that I have had a model S for 15 months, when do I get to move to Silicon Valley, and where are my zillion dollars?

And that's skipping another 10 or more articles with exaggerations and nasty remarks about Tesla. I didn't include Denise McCluggage's editorial column hating Tesla because, well, I guess she's some kind of motoring icon.

Meanwhile, the next super-limited numbers and, in the whole scheme of things, incremental and forgettable MB AMG is gonna get a ton of love from Autoweek. I probably will not miss them.
 
The addiction to gas runs deep over there at Autoweek. Perhaps a look at their advertising sources would be enlightening.
I've stated this in other threads here but I believe this is quite simply fear over losing their livelihood. It's the same thing that drives the Top Gear buffoons. These people have spent their entire lives learning about cars to the point that they are considered experts. They can talk for hours about bore and stroke and whether direct injection is better than port injection and front vs rear vs mid engine and on and on. These people wouldn't know a kWh or back-EMF or AC vs DC motor if it hit them over the head. They are terrified that if EVs catch on they will be outed as not being experts. What's that quote about trying to convince someone when their livelihood depends on them not believing it?

It's kind of like me and IPv6 :)
 
strider,
And they are correct.
Change or die. It is like the power utility in Arizona attacking people putting PV panels on their roof for not "paying their share for the grid" while in Minnesota they are looking at promoting PV installations and redefining the utility to accelerate the change. Some wise up while others go extinct. I think Darwin called it natural selection.
 
These people wouldn't know a kWh or back-EMF or AC vs DC motor if it hit them over the head. They are terrified that if EVs catch on they will be outed as not being experts. What's that quote about trying to convince someone when their livelihood depends on them not believing it?
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
---Upton Sinclair
 
How much has Tesla spent on advertising? How much does the magazine expect in the future. One magazine that does not have advertising and is not partial to any brand is Consumer Reports. What did they say? They gave it a 99. Been reading CR for 50 years and that maybe if not the highest score ever given an automobile
 
If Denise had a Roadster to fling down those narrow Italian streets like she famously used to do with ICEs, I'm sure she would love it. Satch was a true hero and his leaving might have been why I let my sub expire a few years into the small format. He should be found and offered a Tesla test ride! During the large newspaper format years Autoweek ruled and I've saved all my issues. This is the expected end game for such iconoclasts, unfortunately.
--
 
I sent the following email to Autoweek yesterday afternoon before reading this thread:

I thought I had to write and add my perspective to Mark’s article.

As a long time Autoweek subscriber (over 40 years and counting), the past owner of a large independent BMW shop and former SCCA GT3 racer I consider myself a serious “car guy”. That said, in my 65 years on this earth I have never bought a new car, depreciation etc. being the reason. The first exception will be a TESLA Model X which my wife and I put a deposit on five minutes after test driving a Model S on 10/31/2013 that is expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2014.


Mark’s analysis brings up many good points but misses one crucial one and one that not just car guys miss but business analysts as well. TESLA is a Technology/ Battery Development Application company that happens to build and sell cars as a means to this end. It is far more appropriate to liken it to Amazon or Facebook, including there visionary founders, than it is to Ford or BMW as examples. TESLA is a “disruptive” company that I and many others believe will upend the antiquated automotive dealer sales/service model and bring it’s technology not only to automobiles but energy storage and other alternative energy applications. Hence the stock valuations that fit the technology company it really is. I do own TESLA stock and in fact have banked enough gain in the past six months to pay for the Model X in full! Now I’m working on making enough gain to buy a Model E (Generation III) when it arrives in 2018 to add to the stable. Couple this with the PV solar system I have installed on my roof and I’ll never have to pay for electricity, gasoline or oil changes ever again. Driving on sunshine is a wonderful thing and Green to boot!
 
In the early 70's I was the CFO of Autoweek, back when they were in Northern California. Leon Mandel, Dutch's father and Editor of AW, was a good friend and mentor. In fact Dutch used to babysit my kids. I'll never forget talking with Leon after AW moved to Detroit about a car decision I was making. I asked him what he thought of the new '84 Porsche Carrera. He said it's a great, fun car. Only one problem. It will kill you (referring to it's handling idiosyncrasies).

Flash forward to 2009 after I had made my deposit on the MS. I contacted Dutch to reconnect, and mentioned the Tesla. He really went off on it. I've since chosen not to stay connected. I had a deep respect for Leon, but that will only take me so far.
 
Yeah, Dutch Mandel's article can be found online at: The Great Tesla Bubble of 2013, which, written in early Oct of 2013, has since been shown to be wrong on many things.

I allowed my Autoweek subscription of more than a dozen years to lapse after Mandel's op-ed on TSLA. I too sent a message telling them (Mandel) I was canceling because I already had a subscription to Money magazine and didn't really need another "financial" publication, especially one so ill-informed. Of course I also told him/them I planned to keep my Automobile, Motor Trend, Road & Track, and Car and Driver subscriptions because they seemed to have not forgotten what their real mission was: automotive-focused stories & reviews. Naturally, the only response I got was multiple snail mail subscription offers, all of which immediately found their way to my circular file.
 
If you look at the ads in Autoweek, it's pretty clear who's buttering their bread. Here in Vermont we have Dealer.com, one of the largest providers of web solutions for car dealerships. Not too many Teslas in their parking lot, but I'm sure some of the higher-ups there would love to own one. Our local Mercedes/BMW dealer has become the provider of choice for Model S tire changes and detailing. Smart move. The nearest Tesla service center is 200 miles away. I pulled into an auto parts store recently, a pretty big operation, and several employees came outside to check out my Model S. You could see them trying to calculate what sort of business they might extract from these strange new vehicles. Progress is relentless.
 
It is an odd power trip Mandel and Vaughn are on. But before agreeing with the thread, I would suggest a vicerally negative reaction to Tesla goes beyond their pens. The Detroit Press conflates non-GAAP expectations, with GAAP, and the rest of the mags can't seemingly be bothered to learn about kwh. Despite nearing countless BEV and PHEV demonstrators at all the recent car shows, few get copy. Motor Trend compares diesels to hybrids, and calls a $5,000-8,000 contribution to TCO "Eco". Wha??
 
Cancelled. The only vote we have left is with your dollars. Dollars lost sends a louder message to the ownership on the personal behaviors of a few crusty old school editors. When enough dollars are lost, they will get it and they will get new blood into the organization.