Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has released the logs from the controversial trip taken by New York Times reporter John Broder when he reviewed the Model S. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that the article published over the weekend wasn’t entirely accurate, and he said he would release the vehicle’s logs.
Broder claimed that the vehicle’s mileage was cut drastically by the cold weather, and The New York Times said his story was “completely factual.”
However Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has now released more detailed information from the logs on its company blog. In the blog, Musk states that Border’s article “does not factually represent Tesla technology.”
He added that Tesla’s vehicles have been tested in both hot and cold temperatures and that their highest per capital sales come from Norway, which has some of the coldest temperatures in the world, and Switzerland, which offers cold weather driving through the Alps.
Musk also said that “hundreds of journalists” have test-driven the Model S in “every scenario you can imagine,” from Death Valley to an icy Minnesota winter. He also questioned whether Broder really was “unavoidably left stranded on the road.”
In addition, Tesla Motors Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO mentioned a review written by Top Gear also indicated that their vehicle ran out of power and “had to be pushed back to the garage.” He said Top Gear editors had written the script for that story before they even saw the vehicle.
Tesla representatives happened to find a copy of that script lying on the table at the Top Gear show. Musk also said that ever since that experience, they have been especially careful in keeping the logs of journalists who test drive their vehicles.
Musk then got down to specifics about the issues he found with Broder’s article. He said the log shows that the car’s battery never ran out of power “at any time, including when Broder called the flatbed truck.”
He said the final part of Broder’s trip was 61 miles, but against the advice of Tesla Motors Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) representatives, he stopped charging the vehicle when the display read 32 miles. According to Musk, the log also showed that Broder drove past a public charging station while the vehicle was showing a warning that its range was low.
In addition, he said the car’s cruise control was never set to 54 miles per hour like Broder claimed, and he also never did “limp along” at 45 miles per hour. He said the log indicates that Broder drove between 65 and 81 miles per hour for most of the trip. Also while Broder said he turned the temperature down in the vehicle while driving to keep it going, he actually turned it up to 74 degrees.
Musk also said Broder didn’t charge the vehicle up completely when he stopped and even drove in circles in a small parking lot while the display said the range was depleted.
You can check out Musk’s full blog here. He also urges The New York Times to investigate Broder’s article more thoroughly.
