5 ms·

The reporter was blatantly trying to drain the battery to get a story. They were, in no way, behaving like any half-ways rational person would, and they were a

The reporter was blatantly trying to drain the battery to get a story. They were, in no way, behaving like any half-ways rational person would, and they were absolutely not behaving the way anybody driving a Tesla would Zero doubt in my mind this was a pre-scripted hatchet job. The only question in my mind was whether the deception rises to the level of termination.

mythrowaway0 14y ago
...or trying to find the charging point, since it was potentially his first visit there? While we're speculating on rationale, why don't we include possibilities fair to both sides?
- chaz 14y ago
  This is a fair point, but based on this photo [1] of the Supercharger station, and the layout of the service area, it seems unlikely he would have missed it. Google Maps even has the spot marked [2], but the photography has not been updated since December 2012, when they were installed. That's a very prominent location. I'd have a hard time believing anyone would miss it repeatedly. [1] http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/tesla-begins-east-cost-fast-charging-corridor/ http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/tesla-begins-east... [2] http://goo.gl/maps/arrxP http://goo.gl/maps/arrxP
  - tokipin 14y ago
    also remember that the tesla dashboard is basically a tablet, and it has charger locations on its maps UI
- ghshephard 14y ago
  It wasn't just his driving around in the parking lot - he was deliberately leaving charging locations prior to getting a full charge so as to increase the chances of a discharged battery. That was the entire point of this exercise, and he accomplished it on his first try. I say, have someone not biased towards big-oil try this road-trip again in similar conditions, and report back with the results. I expect they will have absolutely zero difficulty.
- drostie 14y ago
  I also thought this at first, but it was his second time visiting that station: there are two stops by Milford's supercharger in the vehicle logs and the claims are about the second, so he is potentially familiar with the area at the time.
  - makomk 14y ago
    I'm pretty sure they were talking about the first visit to the Milford supercharger. In fact, he can't have driven around the parking lot for 10 minutes before charging on the second visit, since the Model S was delivered and initially charged on the back of a pick-up truck - Tesla haven't challenged that part at all.
- ricardobeat 14y ago
  Why are you commenting from a throwaway account?
- jlgreco 14y ago
  I know I often drive around for several minutes trying to find a pump at gas stations I have never been to. Those damn light up awnings are just so hard to find.
tatsuke95 14y ago
>"They were, in no way, behaving like any half-ways rational person would" I know, right? No rational person would put the cruise on 60, sometimes do 80, and expect the cabin temperature to be a balmy 75 degrees. Broder's article was a hack job. That's obvious. But I can't come to terms with how a rational person would want to stop every 3 hours to charge a car for an hour. Get yourself a small turbo-diesel and you're doing this trip in probably half the time, thanks to no charging and setting the cruise at whatever you want. Oh, and you can play whatever music and set the cabin temperature to whatever you'd like. And it's 1/5th the price. I'm not surprised that the Times wrote a shitty article. I am surprised at how bad the Tesla looks as a daily driver.
- Cushman 14y ago
  If your daily drives are three hours, I'm concerned for you.
  - tatsuke95 14y ago
    We don't all live in California and get to bike to work. I have 3+ hour drives twice a week. Sometimes it's very cold. Granted, I'm not going to buy a Model S to do this sort of commute, but then, what is the article trying to sell me? The idea that you can take a car like this on an extensive trip. And, to me, it looks absolutely terrible in that regard, especially in the winter. Somehow people take that as an affront to climate change, puppies, the internet and Elon Musk himself.
    - Cushman 14y ago
      Sure. If you can't stay on the Supercharger network, or can't charge your car where you're going, an electric vehicle is not suitable for your purpose, even if it is in other respects the best car ever built. The infrastructure just isn't there, yet. But going from that to "absolutely terrible" reads as pretty hyperbolic, and I think that's what you're getting from "people".
      - tatsuke95 14y ago

mythrowaway0 14y ago

...or trying to find the charging point, since it was potentially his first visit there? While we're speculating on rationale, why don't we include possibilities fair to both sides?

chaz 14y ago
This is a fair point, but based on this photo [1] of the Supercharger station, and the layout of the service area, it seems unlikely he would have missed it. Google Maps even has the spot marked [2], but the photography has not been updated since December 2012, when they were installed. That's a very prominent location. I'd have a hard time believing anyone would miss it repeatedly. [1] http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/tesla-begins-east-cost-fast-charging-corridor/ http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/tesla-begins-east... [2] http://goo.gl/maps/arrxP http://goo.gl/maps/arrxP
- tokipin 14y ago
  also remember that the tesla dashboard is basically a tablet, and it has charger locations on its maps UI
ghshephard 14y ago
It wasn't just his driving around in the parking lot - he was deliberately leaving charging locations prior to getting a full charge so as to increase the chances of a discharged battery. That was the entire point of this exercise, and he accomplished it on his first try. I say, have someone not biased towards big-oil try this road-trip again in similar conditions, and report back with the results. I expect they will have absolutely zero difficulty.
drostie 14y ago
I also thought this at first, but it was his second time visiting that station: there are two stops by Milford's supercharger in the vehicle logs and the claims are about the second, so he is potentially familiar with the area at the time.
- makomk 14y ago
  I'm pretty sure they were talking about the first visit to the Milford supercharger. In fact, he can't have driven around the parking lot for 10 minutes before charging on the second visit, since the Model S was delivered and initially charged on the back of a pick-up truck - Tesla haven't challenged that part at all.
ricardobeat 14y ago
Why are you commenting from a throwaway account?
jlgreco 14y ago
I know I often drive around for several minutes trying to find a pump at gas stations I have never been to. Those damn light up awnings are just so hard to find.

tatsuke95 14y ago

>"They were, in no way, behaving like any half-ways rational person would" I know, right? No rational person would put the cruise on 60, sometimes do 80, and expect the cabin temperature to be a balmy 75 degrees. Broder's article was a hack job. That's obvious. But I can't come to terms with how a rational person would want to stop every 3 hours to charge a car for an hour. Get yourself a small turbo-diesel and you're doing this trip in probably half the time, thanks to no charging and setting the cruise at whatever you want. Oh, and you can play whatever music and set the cabin temperature to whatever you'd like. And it's 1/5th the price. I'm not surprised that the Times wrote a shitty article. I am surprised at how bad the Tesla looks as a daily driver.

Cushman 14y ago
If your daily drives are three hours, I'm concerned for you.
- tatsuke95 14y ago
  We don't all live in California and get to bike to work. I have 3+ hour drives twice a week. Sometimes it's very cold. Granted, I'm not going to buy a Model S to do this sort of commute, but then, what is the article trying to sell me? The idea that you can take a car like this on an extensive trip. And, to me, it looks absolutely terrible in that regard, especially in the winter. Somehow people take that as an affront to climate change, puppies, the internet and Elon Musk himself.
  - Cushman 14y ago
    Sure. If you can't stay on the Supercharger network, or can't charge your car where you're going, an electric vehicle is not suitable for your purpose, even if it is in other respects the best car ever built. The infrastructure just isn't there, yet. But going from that to "absolutely terrible" reads as pretty hyperbolic, and I think that's what you're getting from "people".
    - tatsuke95 14y ago