Tesla Musk vs NYT Broder

I’m going to preface this by saying that I didn’t read all relevant items and admit that I have an inherent bias in favor of Elon Musk because I consider him to be one of the most amazing people ever. I have a deep admiration and respect for his work. If I were a more scientifically inclined person, he would be my hero. One day, maybe I’ll write more about that but for now this is about a current conflict between him and the New York Times.

As I understand it, a writer, Broder, wrote a negative review for the New York Times about his experience with a Tesla Model S. The problem Musk has isn’t that the review was negative, though some would lead you to believe that, but rather the review is presented in a very deceptive way with what looks to be more like incompetence on the reviewer’s part than actual problems with the vehicle.

For instance, he didn’t fully charge the car each time and lo and behold, ran out of charge at some point. After Tesla notes this in their blog, he says reps told him an hour would be enough to charge it. But if you get in the car and see the estimated range after you’ve charged is NOT enough, wouldn’t you keep charging anyway or at least call the reps to double-check? I very much doubt they would have given him the go-ahead then. Or another instance of when he could have charged overnight but didn’t. Whether you thought you had enough juice or not, it’s just a sensible precaution because you would otherwise be left stranded if wrong, as seems to have happened with him.

I didn’t read the original review and I really tried to read his rebuttal, but I admit, I got bored and I suppose my mind was already made up after reading Tesla’s blog about their logs showing differing claimed temperatures, speeds, and actions taken by the writer’s claims. I’m pretty sure the truth is somewhere in between but not the middle, more on Tesla’s side than Broder’s, but undoubtedly both have their own biases leaking out as well.

This little debacle appears to have brought people of differing views just on Tesla or electric vehicles in general. I would love love love to have an EV or a hybrid, but certain other financial concerns take priority. I do, however, think it is a good path to take, a step forward, into the future.

I wish Musk and Tesla well. I’m sure Elon Musk isn’t perfect, he is human after all, but very few people have the assets and motivation to advance humanity to the degree he endeavors.