NYT article: Stalled on the EV Highway

[smorgasbord]

The bad part is that Tesla didn't know enough to properly warn the journalist.

The real bad part is that the journalist had to be warned.

Model S is a great breakthrough, but there's lots more to do and overcome before Americans, even rich ones, take to EVs in droves.

[jborodin]

The following post should almost be required reading for anyone considering this car for driving longer distances (150+ miles) and/or in colder climates.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showt...t-affect-range

The bottom line is that Tesla's battery technology is still in its infancy, and until you are well acclimated to real-world range, these things will happen.

That said, if Tesla's in this for the long term and expects to be a serious player, then it needs to ramp up its Supercharger network NOW, particularly in densely populated areas like where this journalist traveled -- between DC and Boston. They need to add a Supercharger on the NJ Turnpike soon -- really soon. If not, all the halo publicity could erode faster than this guy's charge in 10 degree temperatures!

[kevincwelch]

There's no reason to bash this author. The article was straight forward and executed with little drama in my opinion. Tesla did let him down.

This article bites Tesla in the rear and it's probably deserved.

Tesla failed to do real winter weather testing and their online range calculators are misleading for cold temperatures.

My hope is that few will read this NYT article and that Tesla is working on being more transparent and somehow improving these problems.

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[sp4rk]

I'm with you. Plus (apparently) conflicting information from TM. And someone should have told him to turn climate control OFF, not down... and plug in overnight, even to a 110.

I think the person who told him to turn off cruise control, meant climate control! Or did he mishear / misunderstand?

[dpeilow]

That seems an odd way to state it. If a battery had 1 mile left on it and lost that while parked for an hour in the cold, would you say Tesla has 100% drain in a hour?

Let's call a spade a spade... he didn't have 1 mile he had 90.

I was quoting the post above mine.

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My hope is that few will read this NYT article and that Tesla is working on being more transparent and somehow improving these problems.

It's the NYT. Heck - I read it over here and it'll be all over twitter etc. Wait until the next news section on Top Gear...

[rolosrevenge]

I wonder why he didn't plug in overnight. I wonder where he stayed in Groton. This is as much a call for there to be more charging options at hotels as it is for Tesla to prep people about cold weather driving, range mode driving, etc.

[kevincwelch]

I wonder why he didn't plug in overnight. I wonder where he stayed in Groton. This is as much a call for there to be more charging options at hotels as it is for Tesla to prep people about cold weather driving, range mode driving, etc.

Agreed.

But Tesla should have prepared him more. You can't be a neophyte in anything and expect to execute expertly without the right coach.

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[Krugerrand]

A 72% drain overnight is utterly unacceptable. To everyone rushing to say he should have plugged in - sorry, that's not always possible.

That's out of context. It was 72% of a partial charge - as in a 30% charge. If he'd had 180 miles left, the 65 miles lost to cold weather becomes only 36% and so on.

Here's the deal; there are certain assumptions an intelligent person can make about batteries and cold weather. Therefore, it's equally intelligent to take the steps required to prevent such an occurrence from happening.

It's not a valid excuse to say 'it's not always possible to plug in'. It's an ELECTRIC car, make it possible or go back to driving your ICE. It's called planning ahead. It's called having a contingency plan. It's called being proactive. It's called common sense. If those things are not within your capacity, then I say again, go back to driving your ICE.

You have to make allowances for new technology and accept they aren't going to be perfect. You have to be willing to change. Adapt. Tesla is giving free long distance charging and people are complaining about it because they're not deploying it fast enough, or in the locations individuals want. Really? Wow, just wow.

[carrerascott]

I think right now reviewers (and buyers, and investors) need to understand that this market is still for car buffs and tech buffs and early adopters. Most people won't stand for not being able to just fill up on any corner. I hope Tesla really pushes the Supercharger installations all over the US. I'd hope they approach gas stations or Sheetz-like places and try to put Supercharger stations there -- it would bring those businesses more revenue (or at least not lost revenue) from food and drink sales. Would be great if Tesla made a deal with a WaWa or Sheetz (not sure if they are on the west coast) to put Supercharging stations at all of their locations.

If the first reviewers of the iPod touch said it's neat but there are no useful apps out there, they'd be missing the whole point. Now there are so many apps the argument is moot. I'm hope there are so many charging stations at least on major roads, that the "where can I charge?" questions becomes moot sooner than later.

[Krugerrand]

I think right now reviewers (and buyers, and investors) need to understand that this market is still for car buffs and tech buffs and early adopters.

You're absolutely right. I just question why that even has to be said. How much more obvious does it have to be to people?