After review Tesla loses hundreds of orders, $100 million in stock market value

[Shawn Knight]

The fallout from the New York Times' controversial review of the Tesla Model S continues as CEO Elon Musk said hundreds of people have cancelled orders for the electric car. It didn’t stop there as the company’s stock market value has dropped by more than $100 million since the write-up was published.

During a recent interview with Bloomberg TV, Musk said the incident certainly isn’t trivial given the impact it’s had on the company. He said it wasn’t like a thousand people cancelled their order but there were probably a few hundred. Even still, Musk noted that Tesla has seen more reservations for the Model S as each quarter passes which shows that demand for the car is increasing.

It all began earlier this month when the NY Times published a less-than-favorable review of Tesla’s Model S. The article’s author, John Broder, said the car ran out of juice prematurely and ultimately left him stranded and in need of a tow truck.

Musk refuted the claims, saying the publication flat out lied about the performance of the car. The angry CEO published logs from the car that, among other things, show Broder never set his cruise control at 54 mph to conserve energy as he claimed, unplugged the charging cable when its range was showing 32 miles for a 61 mile journey and didn’t turn off the heater as he claimed. Musk said that when the facts didn’t suit his opinion, he simply changed the facts.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/51755-after-review-tesla-loses-hundreds-of-orders-100-million-in-stock-market-value.html

 

[likedamaster]

So the company has proof(logs) the guy lied? wow. Journalistic integrity(or lack thereof) goes all the way up to the NY Times, how surprising.

 

[Ranger1st]

If Elon was so disposed he's have an awesome lawsuit against the NY times on his hands.. wow.

 

[RH00D]

I'd enjoy seeing him sue the New York Times for $100 Million. Hit for hit.

 

[TomSEA]

I have a friend who owns one of these cars. It won "Car of the Year" in both Automobile and Motor Trend magazines - no small feat. My buddy loves his - and I mean LOVES it. I've gone on several rides and it really is something else. Especially for technology nuts as this car has maximized the technology in cars to the highest degree.

And my friend also agrees that the NYT article was crap. Some writer trying to make a name for himself. My friend follows the charging/usage guidelines and has never come close to being stranded. So for hundreds of people to cancel their orders based on one *****'s write-up - well, I'm guessing those folks really haven't done their homework and are too fickle for any car.

 

[BMfan]

A CEO saying what he needs to protect his company,good thing they would never spin the truth.

My friend has read through those logs and they don't prove anything on both sides.
The journalist said that one of the technicians said it had enough charge as well.

He was just the same with Top Gear and the planned breakdown.
If you watch the vlog he posted about the episode he states that the technician saw the script and
knew about the planned breakdown,yet he still let them use the car.

Musk reminds me of Jobs.
The one + is that Musk hasn't stolen his ideas.

 

[cmbjive]

I have a friend who owns one of these cars. It won "Car of the Year" in both Automobile and Motor Trend magazines - no small feat. My buddy loves his - and I mean LOVES it. I've gone on several rides and it really is something else. Especially for technology nuts as this car has maximized the technology in cars to the highest degree.

And my friend also agrees that the NYT article was crap. Some writer trying to make a name for himself. My friend follows the charging/usage guidelines and has never come close to being stranded. So for hundreds of people to cancel their orders based on one *****'s write-up - well, I'm guessing those folks really haven't done their homework and are too fickle for any car.

So the writer should have glossed over the fact that the car bricked on him while he was test driving it?

 

[TomSEA]

If you're test driving a car and not following the usage parameters - especially for an electric car - it's your own fault it bricks up on you. That's supposed to be a valid editorial write-up?

Again, my friend has owned his car for 4 months. It's his commuter car and he uses it for leisure use also. FOUR MONTHS and he's never come close to having it die on him because he follows the usage protocol.

Is that just too simple for people to get? Apparently it was for the NYT writer.

 

[cmbjive]

A car bricks on you because you don't follow the "parameters" set forth. That you wrote that probably says more about your position than that of the NYT reporter.

Second, a car bricking, even if it is outside the "parameters" of the use of the car is worthy to be mentioned about the car. Would it be malpractice on the part of this site to not mention that when it is stress testing a GTX Titan it bricked after being pushed to its absolute limits?

Finally, Tesla is marketing this car as an alternative to the traditional gas engine. There will obviously be buyers who use the car outside the "parameters" of the use of the car. Shouldn't buyers be fully aware of the potential pitfalls of this car before shelling out $50,000+ on it?

Also, as I mentioned in the original thread on this issue this is not the first time a Fisker bricked on a reporter. Do a Google search for "Tesla Model S brick". The fact that your friend's car hasn't bricked yet does not mean it is outside of the range for it do so. I hope his doesn't because that car would be one expensive paperweight.

 

[cmbjive]

A car bricks on you because you don't follow the "parameters" set forth. That you wrote that probably says more about your position than that of the NYT reporter.

Second, a car bricking, even if it is outside the "parameters" of the use of the car is worthy to be mentioned about the car. Would it be malpractice on the part of this site to not mention that when it is stress testing a GTX Titan it bricked after being pushed to its absolute limits?

Finally, Tesla is marketing this car as an alternative to the traditional gas engine. There will obviously be buyers who use the car outside the "parameters" of the use of the car. Shouldn't buyers be fully aware of the potential pitfalls of this car before shelling out $50,000+ on it?

Also, as I mentioned in the original thread on this issue this is not the first time a Fisker bricked on a reporter. Do a Google search for "Tesla Model S brick". The fact that your friend's car hasn't bricked yet does not mean it is outside of the range for it do so. I hope his doesn't because that car would be one expensive paperweight.

The last paragraph should say "Tesla", not Fisker. That car brand was even more notorious for bricking.

 

[TomSEA]

"There will obviously be buyers who use the car outside the "parameters" of the use of the car. Shouldn't buyers be fully aware of the potential pitfalls of this car before shelling out $50,000+ on it?"

For the people foolish enough to push a car beyond it's listed parameters - particularly an all electric car - I'm quite sure they will become painfully aware of the pitfalls involved all on their own.

It's very simple - drive within the parameters and you'll be fine. OR...be a simpleton, push the envelope and beyond the parameters listed by the manufacturer and be stuck with a $50,000 brick.

 

[cmbjive]

And what happens when you drive the car within the "parameters"? What then?

And don't think about pushing the envelope because we all know that staying within the "parameters" is how all of humanity has progressed. That's a great selling point for a car.

 

[lipe123]

And what happens when you drive the car within the "parameters"? What then?

And don't think about pushing the envelope because we all know that staying within the "parameters" is how all of humanity has progressed. That's a great selling point for a car.

Dude what are you smoking? Here educate yourself: http://hothardware.com/News/Elon-Musk-CEO-of-Tesla-Vigorously-Refutes-NYT-Criticism-/

The reporter flat out lied and purposefully did things to the car to make it seem that the product was a failure. If it was me I would demand that the NYT publish the car logs as well and expect a public apology!

As for your last comment about "pushing the envelope" in the context of the article that means you will take your normal gas powered car and put 5$ of gas in it and then try to drive 200 miles, if the car runs out of gas clearly its a bad product right?

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

So the company has proof(logs) the guy lied? wow. Journalistic integrity(or lack thereof) goes all the way up to the NY Times, how surprising.

It's not surprising at all.. .Journalism 101... never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Remember that story a couple weeks ago about the father of a victim in the Sandy Hook shooting? MSNBC reported he was heckled by gun control advocates... it was right at the top of Google's news feed. Only problem was it was completely bogus http://www.examiner.com/article/msnbc-caught-faking-video-of-sandy-hook-father-being-heckled

Even now that it's been shown to be a false story, MSNBC still has it on their webpage. Mark Twain once said... "A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants."

 

[Jad Chaar]

I feel bad for Tesla, it is a blow to electric cars... but at the same time he is a billionaire

 

[cmbjive]

Dude what are you smoking? Here educate yourself: http://hothardware.com/News/Elon-Musk-CEO-of-Tesla-Vigorously-Refutes-NYT-Criticism-/

The reporter flat out lied and purposefully did things to the car to make it seem that the product was a failure. If it was me I would demand that the NYT publish the car logs as well and expect a public apology!

As for your last comment about "pushing the envelope" in the context of the article that means you will take your normal gas powered car and put 5$ of gas in it and then try to drive 200 miles, if the car runs out of gas clearly its a bad product right?

So you post a blog post from Elon Musk that refutes the reporter who didn't drive the car under optimal conditions and consider this to be an education?! If anything the blog post supports the reporter. Mr. Musk is being penny-ante about some of the things Mr. Broder says such as Mr. Broder stating he was cruising at 54mph and the computer read out puts it more at 60mph or that Mr. Broder says he limped at 45 mph but the data shows him between 50-60mph. I don't know what Mr. Broder's tach was reading and neither does Mr. Musk. If anything, Mr. Musk should be peppering Mr. Broder's brain with questions to try and rectify the problem so it doesn't occur in the future with other buyers. Instead, the electros and Mr. Musk are taking Mr. Broder to task for his review. I think that says more about the electros and Mr. Musk than it does Mr. Broder.

As for your non sequitur second point there is no way $5 of gas will get you 200 miles even in a Smart car. Still if someone attempted to do this he has himself to blame for trying to do a 200 mile journey on $5 worth of gas. Reading Mr. Broder's follow-up to Mr. Musk leads me to believe he followed all instructions as relayed to him by Tesla and expected the car to perform. It didn't and he reported.

And let me just take a moment to notice the left-wing irony of it all. Here it is the left-wing NYT, which is wholly in the tank for electric cars, truthfully reporting what occurred with its time with the Supercharger (apparently it was NOT the Model S) and the Left is beating it up for reporting accurately what occurred to it. Somewhere Orwell is laughing.

 

[Darth Shiv]

So the company has proof(logs) the guy lied? wow. Journalistic integrity(or lack thereof) goes all the way up to the NY Times, how surprising.

I don't know why in this day and age people trust print media when real information is so accessible. E.g. does the reporter have a history of integrity or a hidden agenda? Pretty easy to find that sort of stuff out in the information age.

If the article is provably false, Telsa should sue.

 

[ShadowDeath]

So the company has proof(logs) the guy lied? wow. Journalistic integrity(or lack thereof) goes all the way up to the NY Times, how surprising.

Problem is who do we trust... do we trust the journalist who apparently lied? Do we trust a company who has everything to lose because of this article that was posted? Either way how saving is this "evidence"? Does it have any information linking the trial run to the journalist or could it be that they drove the car themselves and made new logs to make him look bad? It's a known fact that after a while of use Hybrid batteries begin to lose their capacity and hold less and less of a charge once they get broken in.

Personally, I'd rather trust the journalist than the guys making the car. It wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer lied to the people to sell their product.

 

[Darth Shiv]

Personally, I'd rather trust the journalist than the guys making the car. It wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer lied to the people to sell their product.

I think both are likely to distinctly lack credibility. What commercially oriented journalism is not biased?

 

[captainawesome]

And what happens when you drive the car within the "parameters"? What then?

And don't think about pushing the envelope because we all know that staying within the "parameters" is how all of humanity has progressed. That's a great selling point for a car.

Dude what are you smoking? Here educate yourself: http://hothardware.com/News/Elon-Musk-CEO-of-Tesla-Vigorously-Refutes-NYT-Criticism-/

The reporter flat out lied and purposefully did things to the car to make it seem that the product was a failure. If it was me I would demand that the NYT publish the car logs as well and expect a public apology!

As for your last comment about "pushing the envelope" in the context of the article that means you will take your normal gas powered car and put 5$ of gas in it and then try to drive 200 miles, if the car runs out of gas clearly its a bad product right?

Thank you for finally flippen saying it. "Driving outside the parameters" was completely the wrong way of putting If you buy a gallon of gas, you cant drive 200 miles. Same was has if you fill your battery capacity for 10 miles you cannot expect to make it any further. What kind of ***** blames under-filling on the CAR? My word. Have you no sense???

 

[lipe123]

Wow my faith in humanity is restored! Someone gets the fact that if you charge it only a short time (as indicated by the log) The battery won't last long.

Why is this so hard to understand?

Maybe if the "miles until empty" indicator was faulty or something like that this whole argument would have some merit but no one is even asking that! Instead everyone is focusing on secondary issues :-(

 

[Guest]

It seems there are entities (behind-the-scene) trying to make the electric cars is a total failure through media..

 

[Ranger1st]

What?! a car brick? no way.. I mean that pinto was perfect , the K car awesome.. the launch of the Taurus and Focus.. the Cadillac diesel attempts from the 80's awesome, they were brilliant, Honda's Insight; that $1200/year, mandatory cat replacement was no issue at all.

.. that lemon law never gets used with piston engine cars .. ever..

 

[jackal2687]

This seems to be more so a tactic used against this company to stunt their production and cast doubt into their models. It wouldn't be the first time the oil companies or interest thereof have done this. The fact that the NY Times douchebag is writing false articles should be grounds for being fired. So much for journalistic integrity.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I feel bad for Tesla, it is a blow to electric cars... but at the same time he is a billionaire

Just wait till it rebounds, those prospective buyers will be back once the dust settles.