Tesla CEO Elon Musk is still fast — but far less furious.
After his dust-up with the New York Times, the paper’s public editor, Margaret Sullivan, offered her take on the now infamous Tesla test drive and found that the reviewer came up short.
In a blog posting yesterday, Sullivan said the reporter, John Broder, didn’t always use “good judgment” and that he took “casual and imprecise notes” during his cold-weather trip in the Model S sedan.
While Sullivan rejected Musk’s claims that Broder “faked” the story and set out to sabotage the test drive, saying he acted in “good faith,” her take bolstered Musk’s argument that the review was flawed.
AP
Tesla’s Elon Musk took a victory lap after the New York Times public editor dented the paper’s testdrive report on the Model S sedan.
“A little red notebook in the front seat is no match for digitally recorded driving logs, which Mr. Musk has used, in the most damaging (and sometimes quite misleading) ways possible, as he defended his vehicle’s reputation,” she wrote.
Her conclusions were enough to mollify Musk, who tweeted, “Faith in @nytimes restored,” shortly after Sullivan’s piece came out.
In a harsh review that ran Feb. 8, Broder reported trouble keeping the electric car’s battery charged during a drive between Washington, DC, and Connecticut in the freezing cold. Broder said the car’s power was significantly diminished after a night out in the cold, resulting in an emergency tow.
Musk fiercely attacked the article and published a blog post — complete with charts and graphs using data collected during the drive — to defend the car.
Sullivan was vague about what errors she found with Broder’s judgment, mentioning only the point in the trip when Broder stopped for an emergency recharge in Norwich, Conn., after the battery power was depleted from sitting out overnight.
kwhitehouse@nypost.com
Times talks: Tesla test tellingly tainted
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Times talks: Tesla test tellingly tainted
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Times talks: Tesla test tellingly tainted
