Tesla Model S - NYT, Musk, and CNN

Many of us are now familiar with the NYT story claiming the Tesla S - and its Supercharger network - is not the gas-free revolution in cross-country travel that Tesla Motors had claimed it was. Let me explain. No, that would take too long. Let me sum up: Tesla built a car called the Tesla S, an all-electric car with a ~270 mile range. They have been building "Supercharger Stations" along the east and west coast so that you can recharge your Tesla S mid trip if you want to go a long ways. The NYT tested this and the reviewer, a guy named Broder, claimed in his review that at one point he had to call in a flatbed truck to get his Tesla because the battery had died.
Elon Musk, supergenius, responded exactly like an engineer would: here's the data. Data cannot lie. Turns out the Tesla S has a revolutionary 'black box' that records everything the car does, including GPS, speed, battery power, time spent recharging.The data, indeed, seems to indicate that Broder drove erratically, did not obey speed limits, and potentially flat-out lied in his article about what speed he drove the Tesla S.

Just this morning CNN released their own driving test up the eastern seaboard. Lo and behold, they drove the speed limit, used the cruise control...and had plenty of battery power left at the end of their trip.

This is a classic engineers vs. druids moment. And there's a good lesson here for you young pup engineers: collect data. Lean on your data. Worship your data. Believe in the intelligence of humans, and that humans will believe your data over a druid's prose. Present your data in an easy to read format. And you'll eventually win.


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