Dear Editors: I am writing you regarding the June 25, 2012 article written by Ronald Ahrens about the Tesla Model S. As a disclaimer, I am a reservation holder and am expecting to be able to receive the automobile some time in 2013. Therefore, it should be concluded that I am enthusiastic about Tesla and want them to succeed. However, what cannot be ascertained is the sense that I am closely watching the outcome of what happens in the next year. Tesla has broken the mold with the Model S. Nevertheless, they are a fledgling company that ultimately may not succeed. This thought has crossed the minds of every Tesla investor and potential owner, regardless of how much support they have given Musk. I am anxiously awaiting the flurry of objective reviews and firsthand accounts from the owners who come before me. Therefore, when I began to read the article written by Mr. Ahrens in Automobile Magazine, I was expecting something more characteristic of the fine quality of journalism I have seen before in this magazine. Rather, I was utterly disappointed in Mr. Ahrens and his over-politicized sensationalistic expose that smacked more of something found in the National Enquirer than in a reputable automotive magazine. It is quite clear to me that Mr. Ahrens has a political agenda to satisfy and had no intention of providing any semblance of an objective review. Now, Mr. Ahrens can retort that he only had 10 minutes to evaluate the Model S and that amount of time is insufficient to evaluate the Model S. Note to Mr. Ahrens: everyone has had only 10 minutes, including many reputable auto industry journalists who have given the Model S both glaring and tough (but objective) reviews. I do not want Mr. Ahrens to cast a blind eye to the faults the Model S has or what will be revealed. Rather, it is his job as a journalist to be objective. It is not the time you have but what you do with the time that is of interest to me, not your assumptions about us Sierra Club Members. Perhaps Mr. Ahrens can learn a thing or two from his fellow journalists regarding how to make it happen with limited resources. To close, Mr. Ahrens quotes Shakespeare (a much more skilled writer than he) about being wise and being a fool. My retort: "The lowest form of popular culture -- lack of information, misinformation, and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people's lives -- has overrun real journalism. Today, ordinary Americans are being stuffed with garbage." Carl Bernstein.
I guess the same can now be said about Automobile.
