NYT: Wondering if Tesla can get there from here

[Borgie]

NY Times on Model S - New

Wondering if Tesla Can Get There From Here - NYTimes.com

This is a nicely done article, and I think well-balanced.

 

[twinklejet]

New York Times article fresh off the press:
Wondering if Tesla Can Get There From Here - NYTimes.com

Tesla Motors gets raves for its Model S, and Wall Street loves the company’s soaring stock. But it remains to be seen whether Tesla can meet its ambitious growth targets, which will mean actually selling the cars.

 

[rolosrevenge]

I'd say their challenge is successfully introducing new models and getting their production up to match the expectations. They've still got a long way to go.

 

[vfx]

Regional blackouts favor EVs, not hurt them.

 

[evme]

Regional blackouts favor EVs, not hurt them.

After hurricane sandy, my electricity worked just fine. Unfortunately none of the gas pumps worked.

 

[zeron]

Interestingly, the 10 miles per day of vampire loss are already outdated with the new version 5.0, which seems to have only 2 miles if any vampire loss per day (and that is still over what Elon estimated the eventual vampire loss will be, talking to Norwegian customers).

 

[brianstorms]

I wasn't that impressed with the article, and I also find it interesting that the title of the article has been changed. Go look. It is now called "Getting Tesla From Here to There."

Originally the title was the more doubtful, "Wondering if Tesla Can Get There From Here".

Who/what triggered the change? Did Tesla's PR people intervene?

 

[vfx]

I wasn't that impressed with the article, and I also find it interesting that the title of the article has been changed. Go look. It is now called "Getting Tesla From Here to There."

Originally the title was the more doubtful, "Wondering if Tesla Can Get There From Here".

Who/what triggered the change? Did Tesla's PR people intervene?

The picture was Jason leaning against the car. Now it's him near camera.

 

[LakeForest]

Anyone able to find the authors email, I think the article is fine, but would like to inform him about lower vampire now that I have 5.0, not needing a supercharger at your destination, the fact you can charge off a 120, and call him out on quoting Elon out of context(this is really the only thing I am mad about). Also, pretty sure that car isn't sig red

 

[SteveG3]

perhaps when I see something is from The New York Times, I lose my capacity to give the benefit of the doubt, but I find suspect

1. The implication that 50 miles lost to vampire drainage would make a make an 88 mile trip "cutting it close" (his roundtrip to his weekend house is 176 miles, and he assumed plugging in at the house). I don't know that there is that kind of vampire drain, but even taking the author's number, 138 miles is not a challenge for either battery pack.

2. His lamenting that even with a $70k car he'd need to turn to zipcar for some trips as his analysis of the Supercharger network is that there are places, such as Cooperstown, NY, "well off even Tesla’s most ambitious grid." That's not how I read the Supercharger maps or Elon's description of coverage.

3. Concerns re hurricanes and power outages. Storm coming, charge up... you've got 200+ miles in the tank, how many scenarios are roads good enough to drive over 200 miles, but power outages so severe you won't have power back before you've used 200 miles.

finally, perhaps a glitch in how I accessed this story, but other stories I've gone to at NYT had comments section... I've not found one for this story.

 

[evme]

Anyone able to find the authors email, I think the article is fine, but would like to inform him about lower vampire now that I have 5.0, not needing a supercharger at your destination, the fact you can charge off a 120, and call him out on quoting Elon out of context(this is really the only thing I am mad about). Also, pretty sure that car isn't sig red

I don't know about email, but he has a twitter:

https://twitter.com/JamesStewartNYT

 

[Mayhemm]

Didn't really find any issues with this article (though it's pretty telling that he didn't even mention Tesla's sordid history with the Times, if only to joke about it). If you aren't already a believer, there are a lot of questions that come up when considering an EV (not all of them logical, either).

People often forget that you don't need a high-powered charger to top up an EV. You can use a 110V outlet just fine. It is just way less convenient.

 

[brianman]

Didn't really find any issues with this article

1. the art in this case being the single "signature red" [incorrect: 2013 red]
2. in performance, appearance, technology, and comfort puts legacy automakers to shame [WTB current events awareness: safety as well]
3. occasionally make longer car trips far beyond the Tesla range [at best incomplete, but likely incorrect -- more details would clarify which]
4. on a largely unproven $71,000 electric car that needs to be both reliable and safe [implication is that safety is unproven, NHTSA has already said otherwise; again, stale information at best]
5. since the Tesla loses as much as 10 miles in range for every day it isn’t used, and my car sits in the garage during the week [confused: the description doesn't clarify that the range loss is only if left unplugged; also he doesn't have a 110V/12A available? Is New York a non-electricity city?]
6. Cooperstown is well off even Tesla’s most ambitious grid [here he has a point: the probably-Albany supercharger is 73 miles away]
7. Every Tesla buyer gets a $7,500 federal tax credit. [technically this is not strictly correct, but I'm quibbling]
8. ... dashboard. It’s also an Internet connection .. [Editorial: the dashboard is not an internet connection, though the vehicle does use a 3G connection for internet activity]

 

[Mayhemm]

Let me clarify:

I didn't find any issues with the article which I felt were egregious enough to bring attention to.

 

[brianman]

Let me clarify:
I didn't find any issues with the article which I felt were egregious enough to bring attention to.

Hehe.

 

[vfx]

....
3. Concerns re hurricanes and power outages. Storm coming, charge up... you've got 200+ miles in the tank, how many scenarios are roads good enough to drive over 200 miles, but power outages so severe you won't have power back before you've used 200 miles.....

And gas stations have no power either.


Hurricane Sandy and Japan's recent tidal wave both showed the advantages of EVs in the aftermaths. Read this thread for details of both.
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/5579-Electric-Vehicles-are-best-in-a-Disaster

 

[Benz]

When I read articles concerning the Model S, I somehow get the feeling that the reporter/journalist is gently trying to get some doubt inside the head of the reader, resulting in a decission of the reader not to buy a Model S. I mean that they try to influence the purchase decission of the people. Specially those people who had already figured out that they should buy a Model S. And the reporter/journalist is trying to reverse such purchase decissions.

 

[Mayhemm]

And gas stations have no power either.


Hurricane Sandy and Japan's recent tidal wave both showed the advantages of EVs in the aftermaths. Read this thread for details of both.
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/5579-Electric-Vehicles-are-best-in-a-Disaster

Good point. In an emergency, those guys from Occupy Wall Street could charge up the Model S with their bicycle generator. How do you "generate" gasoline?