>Replace him with "an experienced early adopter." How would the article be different? So, I've been reading the forums at teslamotorsclub.com recently, and the

>Replace him with "an experienced early adopter." How would the article be different? So, I've been reading the forums at teslamotorsclub.com recently, and there are a lot of questions (and answers) about the Model S's range. From what has been written over there, it sounds like the car's speed has the biggest impact on range. In the NYT piece, I notice that the only time he mentions his speed is after it started to look like he might not have enough range to make it to his destination--and then he only mentioned how slow he had to drive. I would submit, then, that an "experienced early adopter" would know that his driving speed matters and therefore not try to drive down the expressway "upside-down at mach 3 with his hair on fire." I also notice that the author made no attempt to charge the car at his destination in Connecticut. Instead, he planed to rely exclusively upon Tesla's "Superchargers" for the entire trip. Again, an "experience early adopter" would know that the Model S can be plugged into a clothes dryer outlet and fully charged overnight (i.e., no waiting). He could have started his second day with a fully-charged battery, if he chose to. Actually, the author probably would have had enough range for the rest of his trip if he had even plugged into a standard 120V domestic outlet in Groton. Frankly, it sounds like the author was trying to make his life difficult. Almost a third of the verbiage is devoted to range problems that were a direct result of his decision not to charge in Groton. When drivers choose not to fill up before driving across Death Valley, do we blame the driver or the car? This isn't to say that the car is ready for prime-time. After all, the author may be representative of the general public. However, I think that anyone with even a modicum of curiosity about his new car--and more importantly, someone who, by purchasing one, had some sort of incentive to make things work instead of writing a diatribe in the NYT--would have no trouble figuring out these things, and avoiding the range problems described in the article.