Tesla's Elon Musk & NY Times: Disturbing Discrepancies On Model S Range Reporting
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Golly.
Turns out nothing ignites the Internet quite like a rapid-fire online spat between Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and The New York Times, the Grey Lady of establishment journalism.
Like many such controversies, common ground turns out to be easier to find than you might think: It's a fact that electric-car range falls in colder temperatures.
The details, however, show claims in the Times article are contradicted by the data logs of the Tesla Model S in question--raising disturbing questions about the accuracy of a widely-read article in one of the nation's premier newspapers.
Let's recap.
Winter trip falls short
It all started with a piece in last Sunday's Times with the ominous title Stalled Out on Tesla's Electric Highway. It was written by John Broder, who reports on energy and the environment for the paper.
He described his attempt to drive a Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sport sedan from Washington, D.C., to Boston, using the new SuperCharger network of DC fast-charging stations now being rolled out by Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA].
Spoiler alert: He didn't make it.
He didn't much enjoy the drive either.
Read the article for details, and don't miss the snazzy map graphic that accompanies it.
Ironically, the article was proposed to the Times by Musk himself because he'd liked its earlier long-distance Model S drive report, Charging Ahead on an Electric Highway, which covered a 531-mile journey from Lake Tahoe to Los Angeles last September.
Musk tweets back (of course)
Musk wasn't nearly so fond of Broder's article.
Monday he fired out three tweets (1, 2, and 3) calling the article "fake," saying Broder didn't fully recharge the battery pack and that he took a "long detour" he hadn't written about.
Musk promised a blog post from Tesla Motors, with further details from the car's data log, would be "coming soon." Data logging, he noted, has to be approved by customers, but it's always turned on for journalists.
Tesla also plans, Musk said on Monday, to invite other journalists to replicate the trip.
Media piled on
Later Monday, Musk tweeted a more conciliatory message, saying he was "not against [The New York Times] in general" and that the paper was "usually fair," linking to its September piece on the California drive.
By the end of Monday, Musk had appeared on CNBC calling the article "unreasonable," and New York magazine had noted the drop in Tesla Motors stock price.
Even The Atlantic--that bastion of the liberal East Coast chattering-class media elite--criticized Musk's critiques of the article, saying they weren't helping Tesla.
Author responds
Then, Tuesday afternoon, Broder published a lengthy post on the Times Wheels blog in which he responded to Musk's tweeted claims.
He noted that the car's dash display had said "Charging Complete" at a pack capacity of 90 percent, and that he wasn't told he should also switch to "Max Range" setting and wait another half-hour or so to add the last 10 percent of capacity--which shortens battery life.
To maximize battery life, the Tesla limits recharging to 80 or 90 percent of total pack capacity (reducing range) unless the driver specifically directs it to do otherwise. The "Max Range" setting provides the highest possible range for road trips and/or cold temperatures.
Broder claims his "long detour" was a brief stop in Manhattan that added just 2 miles to total distance.
The real crux of the problem came from an overnight cold soak at a hotel stop in Groton, Connecticut, where he awoke to 10-degree temperatures.
Broder parked the Model S with 90 miles remaining, and awoke to find it showing 25 miles--which fell to 19 miles after he conditioned the battery for 30 minutes at the direction of a Tesla employee.
Things degenerated from there.
Not plugged in overnight
"Virtually everyone says that I should have plugged in the car overnight in Connecticut, particularly given the cold temperature," Broder writes in his followup.
Plugging in the car overnight, even on 110-Volt power, lets the Tesla Model S use grid power to warm its battery pack, keeping it at a temperature that maximizes range.
He then defends his decision not to do so by noting that he was supposed to be testing the SuperCharger network--and that the car showed sufficient range to return to the nearest SuperCharger location.
"This evaluation was intended to demonstrate [the Model S's] practicality as a 'normal use,' no-compromise car, as Tesla markets it," he continues.
And he sneers at the idea that Model S buyers will all be "electric-car acolytes who will plug in at every Walmart stop," if Tesla expects to be a "mass-market automaker."
We find that line of reasoning a little disingenuous with the Tesla Model S on sale less than a year.
Electric cars are still an almost unknown quantity among mass-market buyers--who generally don't look at luxury sport sedans whose prices start at $59,900 and can reach $100,000 anyhow.
Data logs, graphs, maps, and annotations
Late last night, the Tesla Motors post, A Most Peculiar Test Drive, finally appeared with Musk's name as author--scooped merely minutes beforehand by the Wired Autopia blog.
![2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan [photo by owner David Noland]](http://images.thecarconnection.com/tmb/2013-tesla-model-s_100421975_t.gif)
![2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan [photo by owner David Noland]](http://images.thecarconnection.com/tmb/2013-tesla-model-s_100421969_t.gif)
![2011 Chevrolet Volt and 2013 Tesla Model S [photo: David Noland]](http://images.thecarconnection.com/tmb/2011-chevrolet-volt-and-2013-tesla-model-s-photo-david-noland_100427529_t.gif)
![2013 Tesla Model S before DC-to-Boston road trip, Feb 2013 [photo: Aaron Schildkraut]](http://images.thecarconnection.com/tmb/2013-tesla-model-s-before-dc-to-boston-road-trip-feb-2013-photo-aaron-schildkraut_100419337_t.gif)
![2011 Chevrolet Volt and 2013 Tesla Model S [photo: David Noland]](http://images.thecarconnection.com/tmb/2011-chevrolet-volt-and-2013-tesla-model-s-photo-david-noland_100427533_t.gif)
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Have an opinion?
The New York Times, on the other hand, has no satire defence. John is wonderfully fair and balanced here.
I've seen enough to call a foul play already.
http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/blog_images/articlemap0.jpg
Once again though - the real headline is, as John eludes - the Model S is fast, smooth, efficient and can make the journey from Washington to Boston
Please try in future to write in complete sentences; it will make it much easier to understand what you're trying to say. I don't want to start deleting comments, but five of your 13 comments have "BRICK" in capital letters.
Unless you can connect the "bricking" problem in the previous model of Tesla to the topic of this article, please consider your comments. Thank you in advance.
Battery depletion has a host of variables affecting how long and under what conditions any stack of batteries designed for a laptop PC lasts. My apple lithium battery did what all lithium laptop batteries will do in 4 or 5 years, it expanded beyond its casing. Personally I foresee a copper battery, combined with a hydrogen fuel cell as an eventual auto future energy source, as Germany has been developing hydrides for a couple of decades, starting off in busses, and are poised for the automotive trade.
The NYT is the worst newspaper in the U.S. according to the Fox News crowd; does that not tell you anything?
Not to say that the NYT hasn't published some nonsense, either. You're right, though, at moments like this, the NYT is really no better than Fox News.
Reporters who lie don't get to stay reporters.
1. made the trip without problem,
2. the detour to the Level 2 charger would not have been necessary,
3. the trip could have been made at a nice speed,
4. and at a comfy temerature
Compare this to the impression Broder's article will give to the unprepared reader.
Well, someone is lying. Either Mr. Musk or Mr. Broder. And unless Tesla has just fabricated their data log...I cannot imagine how Broder will be able to get work writing for a montessori school paper.
Stay tuned and kudos to Tesla for picking this battle, which I still think is worthwhile.
>The fact that Broder was biased and had written a biased article before (that Tesla didn't know about!!!)is another indication that Tesla still has a ways to go to get its act together.
This should have been handled better by Tesla PR. But this says nothing about the technical abilities of the car. You should drive one. I do EVERY DAY. The Roadster may have been a science project but the Model S is a refined work of art.
to drive a petrol car with an EPA rating of 450 miles, over 550 miles, ignoring warnings about low fuel and the faster than expected range loss due to cold weather. In other words, if you want to prove something can fail, you will undoubtedly succeed! Big surprise!
"They can't support the reporter...?" Sre you kidding, what support did he need that wasn't provided? Help not lying? Help using common sense? Help not having a bias? I wonder how the many other journalists who've driven the Model S manged when poor Mr. Broder was victimized in your mind?
You don't explain what Elon Musk's personal life and living arrangments have to do with this fact.
or we can look at this as an EV experience in which we all pretty much know that an EV'er would have found overnight charging. Hotels these days are so ready to generate new business that they would bend over backwards to provide 120 if asked. I have done it several times and have never been turned down including some where very gallant efforts were made to get a plug to me.
so the article did not set right with me on either front from day one
This article doesn't even begin to describe the scale and boldness of Mr. Broder's lies. People should really read Tesla's blog for a full report:
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/most-peculiar-test-drive
Somehow I don't think NYT sacks reporters for lying though. Maybe for not getting away with it...
And I don't mean this to mock you or insult you, just to point out that it happens and might happen again here if there is any justice.
I will stick with GCR for my source of EV news... :)
No. We need to get to the bottom of this. Why exactly did John Broder lie in his report ? Why is this not another "Jason Blair" case ?
Broder says that a Tesla employee told him the range loss was the result of a software glitch.
Was the range loss really the result of a software glitch - implying range loss like this won't happen in the future after Tesla updates its software?
Or is the range loss the result of battery physics? And how does this range loss relate to temperature? What would have happened if the car had been parked overnight at 0 degree F instead of 10 degree F? or 50 degrees F?
The Model S pack has an ideal operational temperature of ~65-70F … for best performance away from ideal conditions the battery will require energy for heating, or cooling. Battery pack capacity can vary ~5-15% depending on temperature difference and battery chemistry.
For reference petro changes in volume ~2% for 0-70F. ICE has advantage in cold as its fuel is combination of air + petro, & air is more dense at cooler temperatures.
Your main point, however, is entirely correct. Even in states with the dirtiest grids (WV and ND, IIRC), running on grid power is lower-carbon than a 25-mpg car. In California, you have to have a 100-mpg car (which doesn't exist) to get as clean as a plug-in.
And that's shown both by last year's Union of Concerned Scientists study and the landmark 2007 EPRI-NRDC study. Which I rather suspect commenter Cox has never read.
http://energycenter.org/index.php/incentive-programs/clean-vehicle-rebate-project/vehicle-owner-survey?utm_source=pev-survey&utm_medium=repondents&utm_campaign=cvrp
So, he is probably going to be the "worst" critic of anything electric. That is just the way it is going to be.
Test Tesla, address your concerns to them and see how they respond! You have options & EV choices in So. Cal., ~12 in 2013, potentially 20 in 2014.
Good luck finding the "best vehicle" for you. :)
The Gulf War I was a choice too? To re-establish the monarch that is friendly to us and sell us their oil...
Automobile Magazine's 2013 Car of the Year
Motor Trend's 2013 Car of the Year, and awards given by Time Magazine, CNET, Popular Science, Yahoo Autos, Green Car Reports, AutoGuide.com
Gee, I wonder who's more likely to fudge the facts, Tesla's well-known data logs, which have been published, of course, or a writer whose dislike of EVs is known?
For most of us, to blame Tesla for this is just wrong. Please buy what you want, of course, but Tesla will do fine outside California once the dealerships exist and the vehicles are available.
Notice that we don't have actual quotes from anyone who actually gave him the advice. This is reporting 101. He should have a name, time etc. He can't even look into his phone to see how many times he called Tesla. Or who he talked to. Or when those calls happened.
I'll look forward to your comments here when others replicate the trip and have zero problems.
http://www.kingoftheroad.net/charge_across_america/charge_html/chargehome.html
More on the 50 kW Magne Charge fast charger for EV1 http://www.eanet.com/ev1-club/archive/981017/981017.htm
First, there's a major difference between a two-seat coupe and a five-person luxury sport sedan. Far fewer U.S. buyers (generally only 1% of the market) will ever buy a two-seat car.
Second, the Tesla SuperCharger system now exists and is in use. The system you describe was "developed but never made it to market"--so it remains in the realm of the hypothetical.
Interesting history, though. What might have been versus what exists now.
So, it's not a matter of right-wing media being better or more accurate -- they're not, and no one who has not drunk the ideological Kool-Aid would contest that. The issue is that even news outlets -- such as the New York Times -- that do a better job than the demonstrably-idiotic ones, are far from perfect.
But Let me play "devil's own advocate" for a second here. We have to admit that BEVs today are NOT "fool proof". Average BEV cars buyers are probably more educated, more wealthy and more intelligent than "average car buyers". So, the technology is NOT "fool proof" yet. Whether Broder did it intentionaly or NOT is another matter, but the fact is that someone can act like an "idiot" and end up getting stuck, with the latest and greatest BEV on earth. Sure, the same thing can happen with gasoline cars as well. But the fact is ICE cars carry more energy and have more available public infrastructure and more owner experiences, the chance of this happening in ICE cars is far less than BEVs
Neil
3. If Broder is truly "objective", then he should have stated that in his "experiement" as trying to be as "dumb" as a typical ICE driver get. But he didn't...
A funny story, one lady rushed into my local Chevy Dealer service room while I was waiting to get my tire patched for a small punchture. She came into the room and asked out "loudly", "I need help!!", "my kid played with my SUV and somehow managed to change all the controls to French and I can't find a way to switch it back and I can't do anything anymore...Help! I need help now!"
Just about everyone in room laughed out loudly. But apparently, no one spoke French in that room...
How energy will 200,000 EVs draw per day? Typical driving is about 40 miles per day. 2% is MORE than enough to cover that. That 85% is powering the rest of the industrial usage. When you reduce your gasoline usage, it will also reduce those dirty powers that needs to power the refinery and gas stations.
Just so you know. I am NOT calling for elimination of all fosill fuels over night. But there is NOTHING wrong with moving towards more green energy.
Personally, my Volt is powered by both the 3KW solar panels on my roof and the 1MW solar panels at work.
The Leaf is a commuter,not a general purpose car.
So Mr Border, I retract my implications that the article was untruthful.
It's really a shame for all involved that this wasn't resolved with a phone call or emails clarifying the viewpoints of both sides and reconciling that with the data.
Consumers without instructions on EVs could experience these issues. Work to do.
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/that-tesla-data-what-it-says-and-what-it-doesnt/
http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/15/autos/tesla-model-s/
He had range to spare, in fact.
The New York Times has to very concerned about their reputation - it is the most important asset they have.
Mr. Broder is trying to spin things but he is a journalist - and not an entertainer. I watched Transport Evolved podcast #138 and Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield ( http://www.youtube.com/user/aminorjourney ) and she mentions that the BBC "reports" on this in a one-sided self-serving way.
I think that Elon Musk knew what he was doing.
Neil
I take kayaking trips that would put all currently available electric cars out of their safe charge range. That means that if I was going to buy any Tesla I would still need a real car to take on such a trip.
I can hop in my Jetta TDI and drive 200 miles to a remote area without worrying about where I am going to plug it in. Until electric cars can do the same they are a not general purpose cars.
I have a challenge for Mr. Musk: Newport Oregon to the Steens Mountains. You WILL loose. The Tesla is just a toy for rich people. Nothing more, nothing less!
And I don't feel I'm trying to cover for the NYT. I'm trying to present all relevant facts so that readers can make up their own minds. Sounds like you've done that already?
http://andwediditourway.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-not-so-ev-life.html
The Big Ones ? Eh ?
At 6F (which it apparently was on the night Mr. Broder stayed in the hotel) and say a 4 year old battery or if he left the dome light on or if there was a little water in the tank - what guarantee would Mr. Broder have that the engine would even start; let alone be able to go as far as it would have on the ~1/4 tank of gas?
Neil
What are the motivations for the 50-plus comments you've posted on this topic in the last 3 days?
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