NYT article: Stalled on the EV Highway

[jbherman]

Looks like the NYTs is going to fight this.



That's all well and good. I'm sure Broder will try to dance around the charging times, as well.




Fair is relative, but the article is far from accurate given the discrepancies in the log. It's unfortunate the Times isn't distancing itself from Broder, who is clearly biased.

Elon Musk, Times Tesla Not Letting Test Drive Go -- Daily Intelligencer

He's arguing that he had to circle a 100 foot parking lot for 0.6 miles because he couldn't see in the dark? Seriously?! The Model S does come equipped with external lighting! Or, perhaps he could have gotten out of the car to look at the super charger when he couldn't see it after his 20th circle!

 

[Krugerrand]

As one of the people that was troubled by his original tone, I still am. I never felt he wasn't justified (he's too smart to do that), just that it wasn't the best course. I still think so.

The blog content and tone are fine, the preceding call-ins and appearances could have been better.

What tone was that?

I haven't found his tone to be different. If anything, he's about as consistent a person as there is out there. I've never heard him say or write anything that wasn't typical Mr. Musk.

 

[Bearman]

For a "reporter" -- aka "someone in the know" -- with a 17" browser in front of him, he certainly seems mentally challenged...

1. Bing
2. milford connecticut supercharger - Bing
3. 9th hit...
4. Tesla SuperCharger Northbound Milford Travel Plaza Milford, CT | Electric Car Stations
5. Click the + on the map

View attachment 16503

It took me at least 4 times longer to post this than to find it. So, basically, under 30 seconds to find it.

Apparently we need those giant phallic symbols back and glowing in the dark at every charging station :biggrin:

 

[Krugerrand]

- - - Updated - - -
i agree with this though. you could tell from his initial reactions that he is very emotional about Model S. understandable certainly, but as CEO, you can't always "keep it real". you gotta play the game...

100% disagree. It's expected that people play the game, but there's always a choice to not play. It takes courage and the road is often rough, but it can be done and I think more people should do it. Not following the status quo has led him to success, which hopefully leads to what he envisions for future generations.

You 'don't' gotta play the game.

 

[rolosrevenge]

Wired picked up this story and the comments seem very pro-Tesla over this.

 

[ElSupreme]

Looks like CNN is getting a redo of the NYT Broder trip!

Recreate the NYT Road Trip and show them how its done! - Page 9

Posted in other thread.

 

[Zythryn]

Apparently we need those giant phallic symbols back and glowing in the dark at every charging station :biggrin:

Lol
Any chance any of the people in the area could get photo's as entering the area?
I am a bit surprised that if there was any light at all that the canopy with all the solar panels wouldn't be very obvious. Any signs?

 

[markb1]

Jalopnik (yeah, I know) has some interesting things to say.

They point out how you could drive half a mile in the parking lot looking for the supercharger:

Tesla Claims Model S Driving Logs Show NYT Reporter Worked To Kill Its Battery

Also, they talked to the tow truck company and they apparently talked to a Tesla insider (or someone who had seen the logs) that had a theory about why the parking brake couldn't be released:

Towing Company: The NYT Tesla Model S Was Dead When It Was On The Flatbed (Update)

 

[Jkam]

He's clearly not that slick, otherwise he would have been aware that these data logs could be used against his phoney article. He THINKS he's slick and that's the difference. The irony here is that as it becomes more and more apparent that his story was fabricated to those following the story, it only serves to provide free positive publicity for Tesla. Way to end up promoting the technology you were so clearly out to bash, Broder. What a turd sandwich!

Unfortunately the side effect of all this free publicity for Tesla is the NYT gets a lot more views which helps them. Isn't this a textbook case of sensationalist journalism? Well it actually goes beyond sensationalist journalism, but the point is the more this goes on, in a sense it is good for NYT because all the extra views it gets.

 

[SFOTurtle]

Where are all of the defenders of Broder and the NYT from the other thread?? What a fraud, and a black mark on the NYT if they don't issue any kind of correction or retraction.

 

[mhpr262]

Unfortunately the side effect of all this free publicity for Tesla is the NYT gets a lot more views which helps them. Isn't this a textbook case of sensationalist journalism? Well it actually goes beyond sensationalist journalism, but the point is the more this goes on, in a sense it is good for NYT because all the extra views it gets.

They may get some extra clicks out of all the buzz today and tomorrow, but I suspect there are quite a few people who won't click their page again after that for a long long time ... if ever.

Good in the (very) short run yes, but in the long run .... I doubt it.

 

[CapitalistOppressor]

I tend to lean more towards Broder being just a raging dumbass in the first legs of the trip, and papering over it with overly precise facts that obscured the key issue of not charging the car fully at either SuperCharger. If he had charged fully, every problem would have been solved, so they wrote a legalistic article that obscured that.

Even driving in circles seems mildly plausible if the SuperCharger isn't clearly marked and easy to find at night. That lot isn't terribly large, but I could see circling 4 or 5 times checking the different layers. Add in the dimwit factor causing even more circumnavigations and it's just possible.

I'm pretty sure though that the decision to leave the final charger was pure maliciousness. I see no other reasonable explanation for leaving on a 60 mile trip with just 32 rated miles.

Edit: And by "lean more towards" I want to emphasize that I fully accept that every decision might have been malicious. But there is at least a plausible explanation for why he didn't fully charge the vehicle at the SuperChargers. But the article that was written obscures those decisions and makes it seem that the car was failing, when it wasn't. Of course, by the time he wrote the article, he had made the final decision to make certain the car was towed by not even trying to provide enough charge to get to the final destination.

 

[Yuri_G]

First NYT editor response.

I will be interviewing Mr. Broder later on Thursday. When I reached him earlier, he said that he and his editors were working on a point-by-point response to Mr. Musk’s blog that would appear on The Times’s Wheels blog.

Conflicting Assertions Over an Electric Car Test Drive The Public Editor - NYTimes.com

 

[Jkam]

I read a comment from someone else on another forum that I thought was fascinating.

How crazy would it be if somehow we find out Broder was given a benefit (payola) to write his original article by an ICE car maker or oil company? That would be nuts.

I'm not saying he did or didn't, but if it was true and revealed, there are going to be some pretty embarrassed people.

 

[markb1]

I'm pretty sure though that the decision to leave the final charger was pure maliciousness. I see no other reasonable explanation for leaving on a 60 mile trip with just 32 rated miles.

Well, he says in his article:

Tesla’s experts said that pumping in a little energy would help restore the power lost overnight as a result of the cold weather, and after an hour they cleared me to resume the trip to Milford.

So did Tesla really tell him that, or not? We'll probably never know for sure.

 

[ckessel]

First NYT editor response.
Conflicting Assertions Over an Electric Car Test Drive The Public Editor - NYTimes.com

There won't be even a tiny retraction or mea culpa. The things he doesn't outright dispute he'll just twist into a rant about "this is how people really use cars, Tesla's points are irrelevant".

 

[carrerascott]

She seriously linked to a discussion on Reddit?!

There won't be even a tiny retraction or mea culpa. The things he doesn't outright dispute he'll just twist into a rant about "this is how people really use cars, Tesla's points are irrelevant".

 

[Yggdrasill]

First NYT editor response.

I will be interviewing Mr. Broder later on Thursday. When I reached him earlier, he said that he and his editors were working on a point-by-point response to Mr. Musk’s blog that would appear on The Times’s Wheels blog.

Conflicting Assertions Over an Electric Car Test Drive The Public Editor - NYTimes.com

If I was Broder's editor, I would be very very quiet, and at the same time trying desperately to hand Broders head on a platter to my bosses - not helping him write a point-by-point response.

If the NYT doesn't retract the article and deal with Broder and his accomplices, my respect for them is gone.

 

[Zas]

here's an article critiquing Elon's assertions.. i haven't read it all yet.. just posting fyi..

Elon Muskt Back Up His Claims of New York Times Fakery - Technology - The Atlantic Wire

 

[ckessel]

here's an article critiquing Elon's assertions.. i haven't read it all yet.. just posting fyi..

Elon Muskt Back Up His Claims of New York Times Fakery - Technology - The Atlantic Wire

I read through that. It was ok, though falls back on the same argument that Broder was testing a no-compromises trip and thus minor inaccuracies are irrelevant. And then they completely blow it analyzing a state of charge versus range left, not realizing range = 0 still means SoC > 0.