Clueless NYT reporter manages to get stranded in Model S

Not my intent, apology proffered.

Sure

If they slowed down to 60 mph because of adverse road conditions only, I would say they stayed within the confines of a Broder test.

Cool

IIRC, 'normal' charge EPA range is 240 miles for the 85 kwh Tesla S, and 265 miles for 100% DOD. Since your usual winter range is 180 - 190 miles, I calculate you manage 180/240 up to 190/240 miles, equal to 0.75 up to 0.7916 of EPA. Using the same ratios, a 100% DOD would net you 198 - 210 miles. That is way too close to tow-truck-mode for my taste, and I don't even want to think about spending $100k and telling my wife that the AC has to be dropped to insure arrival.

 

You bet. I would also tell Nissan to take a hike if they suggested I try to rely on chargers spaced 80 miles apart while driving through the mid-west in the winter.

Truth is though, I would not make that trip given a choice. It is possible, but so is walking.

 

Tesla doesn't restrict to only their Superchargers. They are simply a free and fast convience. There are other charging stations. It looks like the NYT reporter passed on using a Nissan dealer charger that was within a mile of his hotel.

 

Off topic I suppose, and I am only speaking for myself, but I wonder about the utility of these QC stations. I want my car to charge when I am at work or at home; or within 15 minutes if on the road. That suggests they offer me at most about 30 miles more range, minus whatever it takes me to reach them and return to my route.

More inconvenience than that would put me back into an ICE car.

 

Are you asking whether I tried to raise the possibility that Musk fired her husband this week ? LOL, no. I am nowhere near as manipulative as you seem to suspect.

I was wondering if Sexton wrote a Tesla critical story while her husband is employed by Tesla.

 

The Tesla Superchargers are something like 80kW. That would add 50-75 miles in 15 minutes. It would be tempting to always stop in for a quick and free daily charge if it was near the daily commute, but I don't think that is the intent.

 

Chelsea is more or less looking for words to support a position than the truth. It is the old soldiers in the fox hole, she is helping her Fellow soldier and not seeking the truth.

 

That was 65, not 55 mph that Tesla recommended. Broder, the NYT reporter claimed to have slowed down to 54 mph, but logs showed he did not slow down below 60 mph on the long stretch and still was able to make it on a partially charged car.

If your limitations are caused by exagerating reporters, try to look at the real results. You should set the cruze control to the speed limit or below until you get past NYC trafic. That is a limitation, but not much of one, definitely not a white knuckle slow ride. Broder failed because he failed to fully charge the battery then ran at speeds up to 80 mph without the cruze control on. You can do that with a gas car, but can't with a BEV, but it hardly is an unsuitable car for the trip. Telsa is adding more superchargers so that you can speed and forget to charge up Past NYC the CNN crew saw they had plenty of reserve and drove part of it at 80.

What you see as positive spin is just honest reporting in the face of the NYT article. The NYT set extremely low expectations. CNN really was a counter point to the exagerations in the NYT piece. If it was done all by itself, without the Huge push by the NYT right now, then I'm sure the limitations would have been high lighted more, but CNN clearly talked about speed limitations, time to refuel, having to stop and eat chicken wraps They didn't sugar coat it.

 

Interested article, Tesla customers ban together and take the infamous Trip. You guessed it without a hitch.

@TeslaRoadTrip participants tout their Model S sedans and their trip to tweak the New York Times - SiliconValley.com

 

^^^
Thanks. I'll take a look. There was also Tesla Owners Hit the Road to Prove Long Distance Can Be Done - Lauren Goode - General - AllThingsD.

 

I'm looking forward to a PC thread about the same issue in 5 years. Then the discussion will be about the reporter who was not able to make it from LA to Anchorage in the winter since he was unable to make the 500 mile legs between stations.

 

I read that they traveled at 65F unless bad road conditions forced them to slow down, but I did not see any mention of ambient temps or AC use.

Anybody know ?

 

looking at their tweets, 30F ambient and 72F inside

 

Fair enough, although if I have to have a backup plan then my answer to the question is 'no'.

I'd like to hear some numbers for what you are calling 'conservative', assuming in one case 20F, in another case 10F ambient.

I think it was cwerdna who posted the blog of a woman who described a litany of problems trying to rely on ad-hoc chargers during a long winter drive. I imagine the situation will improve with time, but clearly assumptions should be very conservative.

 

Some people like new technology, some don't. Nobody on this thread want the skeptics to go out and buy a tesla. Nobody really cares if you don't do it because your wife would be mad at you, or if you are thinking you don't need to plan trips. Really that wasn't the point of this thread.

It was about whether the Tesla S and Super Charger network works for normal human beings, or if its this tough thing that will leave you on a flat bed truck. Most of us don't even care if Broder is right and Tesla told him to go off driving 60 miles with 32 miles charged in his car, and held a gun to his head and told him you must leave. That would be a problem with support, not the cars or the charging network. We have at least 5 people making the trip easily. The worst thing they had to do was obey the speed limit and wait for their cars to charge.

Conclusion of CNN and most of the thinking world is from the previously linked article

Which throws some mighty cold water on the concept that Broder was giving the car or network a fair shot. Many of us disagree with Broder when he says the state of "Electric Vehicles is dismal". If you don't like the tesla, really just don't buy it, don't tell us how all those who are able to make the drive really are cheating.

 

Tesla Model S road trip drivers find success along NYT's failed drive route [w/video]

 

Broder is nothing more than a liar and a cheat. He goes to work goes home and that is his day. However his actions have deep wounds to an industry and many investors who dug deep into their pockets to change the way we transport. EV is the future. It is something that is long overdue, and frankly needed. I'm sure that in 10 or 20 years we will look back at the Tesla Model S and say can't believe people waited an hour for a charge and that was state of the art technology in its day. Yes us collectively the Hybrid and EV drivers we are the early adopters for positive change. I'm sure we will be telling our Grandchildren I drove a Prius as our children chuckle just as Grandma says I remember when lighting in the home came from kerosene lamps and heat from pots that held charcoal was placed under our beds & we say I cannot imagine that. However guys like Broder are trying to derail the process and intelligent people need to expose his errors. Again I say he should be fired for ethics violations, and the NY Times needs to do it NOW.

 

I'm not as optimistic as you are. EVs will need about 400 mile range for a15 minute charge and an extensive network of charging to be adopted by the masses. That might be competitive to gasoline.

Even more so now that the United States will become a net exporter of oil.