Although, I'm not sure why you're blaming all US media for one shady journalist at the NYT...

This isn't Tesla's first bad experience with shady US media outlets being dishonest about their product. I diss the US media because generally speaking US media is agenda driven, not truth driven.

Where was a day and age not so long ago when a 60 Minutes reporter walking in a room, especially with a politician, would make people run in fear because they were about to expose scandalous behavior to the public. Now the politicians line up for a 60 Minutes interview with pre-scripted questions and favorable editing.

Tesla is simply one of the best car manufacturers in the world. They have made the EV cool. Smart looking, great performing, energy efficient, and reliable. It really is ashamed the bottom feeders can't stand that there is an EV with a working business model that proves American manufacturers in Detroit don't have to go under; they want to.

In fairness, Top Gear did the same thing when they drove the car hard and fast around the track, although they do the same thing to all cars and emphasize (especially with the Prius) that it's more a matter of "how" you drive than "what" you drive, which is entirely true. Tesla went so far as to sue TG after their episode aired where they showed two Roadsters dying prematurely after a track day, which they lost. I think the point that most people are overlooking, though, is that this is the future of driving, and I don't mean that we will be driving electric cars. The fact that Tesla was able to access this data on performance and driving habits is going to become all the more ubiquitous as cars become more technologically advanced and it's likely that this data will be able to be accessed by all kinds of groups, not just the carmaker, but government and law enforcement as well. Not necessarily a bad thing, IMO, but it's still more data being anonymously collected on citizens without their knowledge.

I will believe Tesla's black box a million times over before I believe Broder's "data". I find it hard to imagine Tesla would be stupid enough to provide a test vehicle that did not perform as expected. I know you are not a fan of the auto industry, Abge, but I've worked directly with "black box data" before (I owned the data stream for a production model program). So unless they programmed a box specifically to fake the data, or created it all after the fact to dispute Broder, it's hard to imagine their data being false.

The amazing thing is that Tesla has built a fast-charge, 300 mile range electric vehicle...and yet our ridiculous media and government love to point to Government Motor's Volt, or the Nissan Leaf, as some sort of engineering miracle. THAT is why I hate US media.

Regarding media driving a vehicle aggressively and diminishing the range of the vehicle, **the same thing** can be done to a gasoline vehilce. I can drive the hell out of a tiny car and get suck-ass gas mileage if i try...which these reporters (NYT, TopGear) did. They drove a manner *different* than was proscribed by the manufacturer, and then complained that the manufacturers claims are false. That's just blatant dishonesty.

I would buy a Tesla S in a *heartbeat* at $50K....in fact....i think I have a new goal in mind and might start abusing the hell out of my fabulously reliably Pontiac Montana (which I do love...lol...pathetic, isn't it?) so that I can order a Tesla...

Yeah, but Top Gear is like the Daily Show of cars. They're allowed to bend the truth for comedy. NYT is not.

The NYT probably had no way to check if he lied or didn't....he was the only one in the car.

Still, I read the review and couldn't believe it. Glad to see it wasn't the truth :)
(Proud future owner of tesla stock)

But the NYT sent a reporter that had a *known beef* against electric vehicles. That in and of itself is an ethically questionable move on the NYT's part. Then to publish a very negative article with giving Tesla a chance to review and rebut prior to publication is strike two. There USED to be a time when publishers FACT CHECKED....

I think Tesla wanted him in particular because he hated electric cars so much. They were hoping it would be so good, he'd have to change his tune. Instead he lied.

Did you read the article, abgemacht? They specifically said they didn't *know* about the reporter's prejudice. They were expecting a fair and honest report, not a hack job of lies.

My bad. I've read several articles on this, and they all mention his history of bias, so I assumed Tesla knew.