The honest ladies and gentlemen at the New York Times reported on the Tesla model S electric car a few months back, and didn’t have too much good to say. It seemed as if they were trying to start a flash mob to take down the horrid electric car before the wheels began spinning, pun intended.
The Tesla Model S is a revolutionary electric car making way east from its birthplace of California. The company claimed that the Model S could carry itself 300 miles on a single charge. Yet in an Op-Ed on the car from NYT, John Broder claimed that the car was terrible. It couldn’t make the trip. The Model S was bad. More or less.
“Tesla Motors’ chief executive officer says a Times story that found the electric-vehicle maker’s Model S sedan fell short of its estimated range erased $100 million of the company’s stock-market value in a matter of days,” Forbes reported on Feb. 26, 2013, 18 days after the NYT criticism.
This started a huge social media feud between the author and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. Musk cited documents and logs and Broder argued back. It went on and on, and in the end an NYT editor stated that there could have been “problems with precision and judgment, but not integrity.”
And that got me thinking of the almost creepy bias in the media. Since then Ford has recalled the 2013 Escape SUV’s 5 times due to engine fires. There were a few hundred thousand cars recalled worldwide. The Detroit News has reported on the recall in this story, but otherwise it’s gone under-reported, if you ask me.
It just seems like the media picks the winners and losers, and if you’re the latter, be prepared for a fire storm.
Hi Shane! This post immediately caught my eye when I seen the word “Tesla” in your title. I am a car fanatic and have followed the brand since it’s birth. What Tesla is doing is decades ahead of the competition as far as electric motors are concerned. The media is rarely 100% correct on their claims and only we are to blame for the companies hit in the stock market. Before making rash decisions it is important that we step back and evaluate many different resources rather than just a few let alone one measly article. An article in Businessweek has nothing but great things to say about the brand and it’s Model S, and this is just one of many articles that rave about the brand. The main point that I received from your blog post is that it is important to evaluate all of your resources rather than just one, this will help prevent us from making ignorant decisions, and ultimately benefit us in the long run.
Shane, your post is interesting. I came to the realization that building cars that are environmentally friendly comes at a great cost, and I feel like that cost will be great and will involve drivers or even passengers getting seriously injured or even some death in the near future. I think it is great and all building electric powered cars but at the same time I feel like I’m putting myself in even more danger of getting hurt and I feel like my life is more valuable than new technology and I understand the risks that involves in advancing however, I don’t want to have a discomfort feeling of knowing every time I get into my car I have a chance of blowing up. http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-s-vs-chevy-volt-2013-11
Obviously everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion but even though Broder isn’t too fond of the Tesla Model S, I actually think it’s a pretty chic car. Business Insider has a video that directly compares the Tesla Model S to the Chevy Volt. Though the Volt is much less expensive, in my opinion, the benefits and amenities of the Model S far outweigh the low prices of the Chevy Volt in more ways than one. Here’s the video: http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-s-vs-chevy-volt-2013-11