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New Jalopnik hit piece? Fair and balanced?

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#42
mnx said:
Why are we inventing new abbreviations all the time? G60, really?
Click to expand...

I tried my hand at coming up with a system back in June. MSP, MS85, MS60, MS40.

P85 (which I believe came from Edmunds from the badge on Elon's car), has more uses than MSP, but none of the others really caught on. People just call it what they want, and in fairness Tesla has done nothing to make life easier for either journalists or those of us in the forums by not having abbreviations :)
 
#43
Even the title of the piece makes me laugh

"The Tesla Model S Is The Worlds Most Expensive Beta Test"

In Silicon Valley it's not a bad thing to be in the beta test program. If Google asked you to be one of an exclusive group of people to try the next generation search engine, what are you going to say? No thanks? I don't like change, I might encounter a glitch, and I think I will hold out and use the old one until you take it away from me and force me to use something better?
 
#44
I was all set to cry foul before actually reading the article. The guy hasn't misrepresented anything, and he even stated that people who have had issues still love their vehicles. I don't see why he'd need to explain that the issues cited were fixed, because he's not writing about Tesla service but rather Model S vehicle problems. Whether problems are fixed or not doesn't change the fact that there are issues encountered. I would go so far as to say that he did a good job keeping things fair, with Elon and Tesla being given a chance to respond.

And this sort of thing is good in the long-term because it keeps Elon and Tesla on their toes. At the end of the day they are a publicly-traded company that answers to shareholders first, so media attention of this nature actually serves in the owners' best interest.
 
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#45
hans said:
Even the title of the piece makes me laugh

"The Tesla Model S Is The Worlds Most Expensive Beta Test"

In Silicon Valley it's not a bad thing to be in the beta test program. If Google asked you to be one of an exclusive group of people to try the next generation search engine, what are you going to say? No thanks? I don't like change, I might encounter a glitch, and I think I will hold out and use the old one until you take it away from me and force me to use something better?
Click to expand...
Evaluating beta test products for free is different from buying a product of beta quality.

I'm not agreeing with the title or content of the article/post/dribble, but the equivalence being made here.
 
#46
I'm actually pleased to see that this article's sources actually included an interview with Musk and a personal interview with an owner. To me this puts it a step above the typical single website sourced internet "journalism" so common now. Still, I think it's somewhat misleading in referring to the "mechanical glitches" thread as 130 pages long when the thread is about a year old and probably a majority of the posts are in the vein of "I haven't had that problem" or "Here's who to call at Tesla" or "Here's how you fix that problem". But since we're being used as journalistic sources, I will now provide a factoid below for future reference:


Elon Musk will deliver my Model S by helicopter next month! They're going to land it right in my driveway! There's also going to be a unicorn in the frunk! This unicorn is supposed to replace the the HPWC and all I'll have to do is carry him with me and plug directly into his you-know-where to get a full charge in 15 minutes! - Maybe this deserves a separate thread.
 
#47
This was my comment on the piece:

The issue I have with this article is that it's very selective in the posts that have been pasted from the TMC forum. Sure, there's a very large thread detailing many and varied technical issues, and there's several others discussing specific issues. But when balanced against the huge number of threads detailing how amazing the Model S experience is, it's a very small minority. I am an owner, for just the past few days, and have been reading the thread that you've sourced your material from with some concern. Luckily, it was unfounded for me, and, for many, many others. The nature of any car forum is that it's a distillation of the wider demographic, and that has to be considered when reporting 'facts' from it. I will read your testdrive with interest, as I've yet to take anyone for a testdrive that's not over-the-top impressed with the quality of the car, in terms of finish and drive performance. Every new car has issues, many cars have issues throughout their lives. Most (not all) of the reported issues can be fixed through software updates, as shown by the latest 4.2 release. How many cars can do that?
Click to expand...

I do think the article was fairly well written, but I believe the misrepresentation comes from just taking a very select extract of the threads on this forum. You can Google reviews on anything (products, hotels, cars etc) and find good and bad reviews. In your head, you will balance those put and make a decision based on that judgment. This did not happen with this article.
 
#48
brianman said:
Evaluating beta test products for free is different from buying a product of beta quality.

I'm not agreeing with the title or content of the article/post/dribble, but the equivalence being made here.
Click to expand...

I was highlighting a similarity, not an equivalence but perhaps I can give a better example. Years ago I happily bought a Pre-standard 802.11n WiFi router knowing that it would need new firmware when the standard was finalized, and knowing that it had minor "beta quality" issues that could also be fixed over time. I bought it because it was fast and because I had faith that the known issues would be addressed in firmware without having to physically replace the unit.
 
#49
I really want to comment on the article, but I'd get way too angry to be coherent. It's just such a pile of garbage.

My favorite part is how they claim how many deliveries there have been.

Be transparent! Explain why Tesla didn't give you a car to test, or invite you to various press events! It's because for some unknown reason Jalopnik has had a stupid and irrational fear and hatred for Tesla. FOR YEARS this has been going on and good for Tesla for acknowledging this and canceling all of Jalopnik's invites.

Is the car perfect? Hell no! But it's is the single most amazing car I have ever laid eyes on. I am very happy with my purchase and even if I had a major problem I would still be happy with my purchase. It's that good. If I had unlimited money, I'd still go with a Model S (probably a performance model though).

They are the troll of the car blogs. Now go away troll.

-Proud owner of a Model S
 
#51
Another point he missed is that EVs (Roadster, Leaf, MS) are comfortably bought by tech early adopters. The same people who are on forums as an extension of their tech lives.

Other car forums do not have the flurry of activity of this site even with larger auto sales numbers.
 
#56
brianman said:
I have no idea what you're talking about. ;)
Click to expand...

Was I the only one relieved I was not quoted in the article?

My reply:

Dear All,

It is just a great car. All my "bugs" were, indeed, fixed via a software update as I slept soundly and my Model S rested quietly in the garage one night, about two weeks after she arrived at my doorstep via personal delivery, with a delivery specialist who spent over 4 hours that first day, going over every imaginable detail with me. Like many owners, I had an issue where it took 2-3 touches to open the sunroof. It needed to be re-calibrated. One morning, my Model S informed me that my sunroof would now open correctly, and it did. No trip to a service center. The day after I received the car, I received a software update that "delivered torque even more rapidly" = faster car = wow, from a software update? I have driven over 3,800 miles, all in sub-40 degree, most in sub-30 degree, and much in sub-Zero degree weather, and the car is a joy. No hesitation in recommending this car to all who are lucky enough to be able to buy it. To thow money into a similarly-priced internal combustion car would be a critical error and a total miss on the chance to enjoy the ride of your life. Really.
 
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