📰 Auto News Tesla electric car fails cold weather cruise

[Flyn]

Cold weather apparently played a part in stranding a writer who was test driving a Tesla electric car.

For his drive, Times writer John Broder took the Tesla Model S sedan and its 265-mile range from Washington, D.C., to Norwich, Conn., to test the new "supercharger" free charging stations Tesla had installed along Interstate 95. Trouble began, as it often does, in New Jersey, when the Model S' range estimates began dropping faster than Broder could rack up miles.

To make his stop in Milford, Conn., Broder had to drive without heat and at 54 mph, about 26 mph less than the average observed speed on northeastern turnpikes. He made it, barely, and recharged for an hour to get 186 miles back in the batteries. After driving an additional 80 miles, Broder parked — without plugging the Model S in — and spent the night, ready to use the 90 miles showing on the car's range guide the next morning.

When that cold morning arrived, the Tesla had a surprise: Overnight, its batteries had lost enough charge to cut the car's range to 26 miles. After an attempt to recharge at a nearby quick charging outlet, the Model S died on the road and had to be lifted by flatbed — since its electric parking brakes would not release without current — to the Milford station.

Full story: Elon Musk calls out New York Times after Model S strands test driver | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos

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[RICH17]

I wonder if the battery heater wasnt working properly

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

and this is why cng is more viable for northern latitudes and batteries can stay down south

 

[RICH17]

Does CNG change much due to tempatures tho?

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

cng and lng are fine in cali they do quite well in the cold as they only need heat for mixing valves which is readily produced by an IC engine. down south lng needs to evaporate to help keep the tanks cold.
down south can use ethanol and electric since both work better in warmer climates.

its retarded for the industry to only go after one solution when it doesnt make sense for a certain climate

 

[Mike K]

I'm curious to see Tesla's official response. Leon already said they have the datalog info and that the car wasn't fully charged at either station and that they took unnecessary detours.

This would be the second time Tesla didn't get a fair shake from top he media. Top Gear more or less fabricated a story about their test car running out of juice on the track when it... Well... Didn't.

 

[Flyn]

There's so much potential money in future car innovations that I would not be surprised if corporations are using underhanded tactics to influence the future.

 

[Flyn]

Somebody's lying.

Data released by Tesla Motors late Wednesday night directly contradicts a damning review of the automaker’s Model S sedan by the New York Times.

The data, pulled directly from the electric sedan’s on-board computer, claims that New York Times reporter John M. Broder never ran out of energy during his extended drive of the Model S, despite his account to the contrary.

Broder’s trip in the Model S began outside of Washington D.C., up to Norwich, CT and then down to Milford, CT over the course of two days. The drive was intended as a way to evaluate Tesla’s newly installed Supercharger stations, which allow Model S owners to top up their batteries for free at solar-powered charging stations lining major thoroughfares along the east and west coasts.

According to Tesla, Broder was given explicit instructions for his drive: keep the speed at 55 mph and turn down the climate control. Broder claims to have set the cruise control at 54 mph and at one point writes he, “limped along at about 45 miles per hour.” However, the logs released by Tesla show that he drove at speeds ranging from 65 to 81 mph, and kept the interior temperature at 72 degrees, increasing it to 74 degrees at one point.

Tesla’s data claims that Broder never completely charged the Model S during three separate charging sessions, including one charge before the final leg of his trip, when Broder disconnected the charger with an indicated range of 32 miles, despite planning to drive 61 miles. Additionally, Broder claims to have charged for 58 minutes during the second leg of his trip, although Tesla’s data alleges it was only connected to the Supercharger for 47 minutes.

While driving on the highway, Broder says the Model S’ display informed him that it was about to shut the car down. “I was able to coast down an exit ramp in Branford, Conn., before the car made good on its threat,” Broder describes in his story.

According to Tesla, the Model S never shut down as was implied by Broder – he simply pulled over. Tesla claims that its “State of Charge” log shows that the battery never ran out of energy at any point during his trip.

The automaker is also questioning the length of a trip Broder made through Manhattan, reportedly giving his brother a ride in the car, as well claiming that the writer drove around in circles outside a Supercharger station for malicious reasons.

Tesla’s data dump comes five days after Broder’s report appeared on the New York Times site. Three days later, Tesla co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk, took to Twitter to refute the story, going so far as to call the New York Times‘ piece a “fake“.

The chemistry of the lithium-ion batteries in the Model S are affected by cold temperatures – especially the sub-freezing temps Broder experienced during his drive – which would reduce the overall range of Tesla’s electric sedan.

In an earlier statement released by the newspaper, the Times stood behind Broder’s portrayal of the drive, calling it “completely factual” and stating that “[a]ny suggestion that the account was ‘fake’ is, of course, flatly untrue.” Calls for a follow-up statement from the Times and Mr. Broder have gone unanswered.

Tesla Driving Logs Contradict New York Times Claims | Autopia | Wired.com

 

[Burtonrider10022]

I thought the liberals liked electric cars? Why are they trying to sabotage their own?

 

[Donnie]

Because everyone has ulterior motives. Especially money!

Any traditional MFGs buy particularly large amounts of ad-space with them? lol.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

I just saw one of these in white yesterday going north bound on 53. From the front I thought it was a Maserati.

 

[Yaj Yak]

Tesla's Elon Musk Responds To The New York Times

On Tuesday, we brought you the story of The New York Times, represented by writer John M. Broder, versus electric car maker Tesla. While the entire incident has been documented and replayed across multiple media sites, we can summarize it by saying that the two sides are at odds on the Tesla Model S’ winter driving range.

In a piece written for The New York Times that was supposed to highlight the advantages of Tesla’s Supercharger technology, Broder was to drive a Tesla Model S sedan from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts. Along the way, however, the article turned into a criticism of the electric car’s unpredictable range in cold weather.

As Broder relates the story, he barely had enough battery charge to reach Milford, Connecticut after using a Supercharger station in Newark, Delaware. To preserve declining battery power, Broder says he was forced to turn off the heat and set the cruise control to a snail-like 54 miles per hour.

Eventually, the predictable happened: on day two, Broder alleges he ran out of power while seeking a charging station, and his Model S shut down on a highway off-ramp in Branford, Connecticut.

Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, was quick to label the story a fake, and promised that the vehicle’s data logs would paint an entirely different picture. On Tuesday afternoon, Broder even published a second story on The New York Times' blog, responding to Musk’s allegations.

On Wednesday, Musk published his long-awaited blog post, complete with data logs from the car used by Broder on his test-drive. To call the data damning to Broder’s claims is a bit of an understatement, and (if accurate) it brings into question the real intent of the original piece. For example:

• Tesla’s data logs show that the car never ran out of charge, even when Broder called for a flatbed in Connecticut.

• Broder’s final leg was to be 61 miles, yet the charging cable was disconnected with only 32 miles of range displayed.

• Broder claims the car’s cruise control was set for 54 mph, and at one point he was forced to drive just 45 mph to preserve range. The data doesn’t back up either claim, and it also shows that cabin heat was bumped to 74 degrees when Broder claimed it was shut off.

• At Broder’s second Supercharger stop (in Milford, CT), the car was reportedly charged for 58 minutes, producing a range of 185 miles. Data logs show the car was charged for just 47 minutes, explaining why the car ran short on range.

• At Broder’s first Supercharger stop, the Model S was replenished to 90-percent of charge. At his second Supercharger stop, the car was pulled from the charger at just 72-percent, and a third (non-Supercharger) stop was ended at just 28-percent of charge. At the Milford, Connecticut stop, logs show that Broder drove the car in circles for roughly 0.6 miles with “0 miles remaining” displayed on the dash before plugging in.

In defense of Broder, the Model S reportedly lacked the charge to release the parking brake when put on the flatbed at the Connecticut off-ramp, and we’re not sure how you’d fake this. While the evidence from Tesla appears to be solid, sometimes things are more gray than back or white.

Speed log from Tesla Model S trip conducted by John Broder, The New York Times [from Tesla Motors]

We’re fairly certain that The New York Times will publish it

We’re fairly certain that The New York Times will publish its own take on Musk’s data, but we’re less certain the paper will conduct any kind of investigation into Broder’s story. As for Tesla, Green Car Reports says it’s closed the books on the incident, and no further statements will be issued.

Was Broder’s piece a deliberate hatchet-job on the Tesla Model S sedan, or did the Model S sedan really exhibit unexpected (and potentially troubling) range discrepancies in cold weather? The ultimate truth, we suspect, lies between these two extremes.

 

[Mike K]

CNN is doing the same trip today...

CNN Is Now Trying To Drive The Tesla Model S From D.C. To Boston

The data he has on the dude is pretty damning, at least with respect to not fully charging the car. Why would you not fully charge the car? Why would you specifically state you turned down the temperature when you raised it?

Full disclosure: I have a total boner for the Model S Performance.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

Data doesnt lie. People do.

 

[Flyn]

It's going to be interesting to follow that CNN trip. They can't recreate the conditions exactly but they should give us a good idea who is BSing (Times reporter).

 

[sickmint79]

it's retarded that you get instructions to not drive as a normal human being.

although more retarded for you to just make a bunch of bullshit up.

 

[Bru]

The original article never rubbed me the wrong way like he was trying to be dramatic and damn the Model S for entertainment value - like Top Gear. Tesla actually reached out to the writer and said, "Here, you should do this article." And he did. The NYT piece was a fairly boring account, though well documented and he was completely transparent about calling and talking with Tesla through the whole trip, problems and all.

If it is fake, he surely hid his desire of damning Tesla well. I'm also not totally convinced the data could be considered fool proof considering all the issues they've had with the car. The Tesla forum is pretty revealing of the issues this car is plagued with, which include charging issues.

I hope the problems are sorted out because there's a ton of potential in the Model S. The car is still extremely impressive considering it's a from scratch, ground-up product and drives as complete as it does.

 

[sickmint79]

Elon Musk's Data Doesn't Back Up His Claims of New York Times Fakery - Technology - The Atlantic Wire