Electric vehicle production company Tesla Motors entered a high-profile dispute with New York Times writer Jon Broder in mid-February over a highly critical review of the writer’s experience with their Model S sedan, starting a large discussion about the validity of his claims and the viability of the electric car in today’s environment.
The February 8 article outlines Broder’s test drive along Interstate 95 on the American East Coast, where Tesla had recently installed two Supercharger stations to allow drivers to go between Boston and Washington DC. His account noted issues primarily related to weather, where the cold weather appeared to make his estimated range drop dramatically, even after turning off the heater as recommended by Tesla’s employees. In one case, he was barely able to get to a Supercharger station and in another, he claimed to end up five miles short before the car shut down and he had to call a tow truck to pick up the car. During an overnight stay, he woke in the morning to find that the range of the vehicle had dropped by 73%, which led to some issues with mileage the next day.
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, who is also behind the founding of PayPal and SpaceX, argued that Broder’s article was false, saying that his vehicle wasn’t fully charged before leaving and that he took a long detour, negatively affecting his ability to reach his next destination. The New York Times backed Broder’s account and posted a map detailing points during his drive where had made stops and what his mileage was at each point. They also claimed that he followed all instructions given to him by Tesla and that he was never told to leave the car plugged in overnight, which would have prevented the car from dropping so dramatically. Musk also stated that Tesla is still planning on installing more Supercharger stations along the east coast, aiming for having ones located 100 miles apart instead of the 200 miles currently between the stations.
Tesla then wrote a long post arguing many of Broder’s points using the log from the car, then suggesting Broder has an anti-electric vehicle bias due to his article last March which claimed the electric car was in a poor state and had a questionable future. Most of Tesla’s points disagreed with Broder’s speed claims, and the log they posted showed that he had driven on cruise control for 60 mph, not 54 as he had claimed, that he had driven between 65 and 81 mph for most of the trip and that he had not turned down the temperature at the time he said he turned it down. His charging times also dropped each time he visited a station, so he left each station without charging the car completely.
Broder responded stating that while some of Tesla’s claims were true, others were either explainable misunderstandings, such as not fully charging at each station since he felt it was unnecessary, or were false, saying he had definitely charged at one station for the time he had stated, even though Tesla claimed it was 11 minutes less than his claim. New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan ended the two-week debate by defending Broder’s integrity while stating he may not have used the best judgement, and also saying that some of Tesla’s data appeared to be misleading.
If this was a review for any average gas-powered vehicle, it likely would not have become as large of a disagreement as it was, but Tesla has more at stake than most car companies. The electric car has had a struggling history since the 1920s, when improved roads necessitated the demand for cars that could drive longer than the electric cars of the day. The combination of the removal of the hand crank in favour of an electric starter, the introduction of the muffler and Henry Ford’s mass production lines made gas vehicles cheaper and easier to use. Environmental, economic and societal concerns have brought alternatives to gas-powered vehicles back to the forefront, but poor experiences like the one documented by Broder push Tesla down while it’s still trying to rise. It’s already incredibly challenging for new carmakers to establish themselves in a market dominated by multi-billion dollar companies with a strong foothold on the industry and millions of dollars spent on lobbying governments to serve the status quo.
In Tesla’s defense, their infrastructure has been barely implemented on the East Coast, since their Superchargers were only installed a few months ago. However, if Tesla wants to push their car as comparable in experience and satisfaction to a gas-powered vehicle, then Broder’s account was fair in some elements, and there is still much work for Tesla to do. On the other hand, their vehicles are the most promising electric vehicles seen in recent memory and their design in both their vehicles and at their site is phenomenal. There will be stations coming to Canada soon as well, with two stations expected to be placed between Toronto and Montreal and one in Vancouver along a route to California. Broder’s experience may not have been ideal, but if Tesla’s model proves successful, we could be seeing more Teslas in our cities, and if that reduces our dependency on gas, that’s an exciting prospect.
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