Tesla Motors vs. The New York Times

Electric vehicles, charging stations, and EV accommodations are all on the facility management radar moving into 2013. Late last night, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, released a blog post that disputes New York Times writer John Broder’s review of the Tesla Model S electric car.

The full blog post “A Most Peculiar Test Drive” can be viewed in full length at the corresponding link.  Some of the more incendiary charges include information from alleged data logs and include the claim that the Model S battery never ran out of energy at any time, including when Broder called in a flatbed truck.

A sample of other statements:

• At the point in time that he claims to have turned the temperature down, he in fact turned the temperature up to 74 F.
• Drove right past a public charge station while the car repeatedly warned him that it was very low on range.
• The display said "0 miles remaining." Instead of plugging in the car, he drove in circles for over half a mile in a tiny, 100-space parking lot.

The blog post details a previous experience with a Tesla Motors vehicle appearance TV show Top Gear that resulted in careful data logging of all media test drives.

Does the data speak for itself?