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Why You Shouldn't Trust Any Early Tesla Model S Reviews [jalopnik]

23K views 147 replies 42 participants last post by  DJMRDARK 
#1 ·
http://jalopnik.com/5918341/why-you-shouldnt-trust-any-early-tesla-model-s-reviews

It's possible the Tesla Model S is a great car that lives up to all of its promises. You won't find that out by reading reviews from the early drives of the car, which we've learned — and the company has basically confirmed — Tesla has limited to 10 minutes per outlet.

This means none of these outlets will be able to test the most important aspect of an electric car: its battery performance. What kind of outlet would agree to such ridiculous terms? A ton of them, of course.
So who's got the popcorn? :D
 
#12 ·
C'mon, Matt. "You shouldn't trust the reviews"? Isn't that a bit hyperbolic? You really need to read that article with an impartial eye. It comes across as you whining that Tesla won't let you take one of the (very few) completed cars out for a typical press thrashing.

The reality is, they'll sell these without handing them over for typical press fleet abuse. So why would they?

The owners I've talked with about their Roadsters (and in the Seattle area, there are many) are very happy with their cars thus far. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the initial purchasers for the Model S are current Roadster owners.
 
#39 ·
I like a healthy round of Jalopnik bashing as much as the next guy, but only offering a 10 minute road test is a freaking joke. This is an electric car, determining range is what's the most interesting thing about these things.
 
#63 ·
Sounds more like whining to me.
 
#79 ·
Did someone ever find out what the true range on the roadster when you actually drove it 'spirited'?

The Model S Performance is marketed at being 0-60mph in 4.4 That is rather impressive, unless that limits one to a range of 15 miles.
 
#83 ·
Eh, as a Model S reservation holder, I don't really have any problem with what you're saying. For the test drives they are giving to us reservation holders, we expect to be limited to a few minutes each because of the sheer number of us. But it seems reasonable to offer a little more time to journalists since there are relatively few. And certainly they do have several cars they're using for the test drive tour:

Today I am very happy to announce that at our first two tour stops we will be showcasing ALL 10 COLORS of Model S
So there are at least 10 test-drive ready cars.

That said, and as you point out, that's just how they want to play this thing. Fine. I'm not shaken up by it.

Frankly, I'm a little more upset that I am going to be out of town for the Los Angeles reservation test drives and I can't send a friend in my place.
 
#85 ·
I could also see Tesla being very cautious about this new launch.
They don't want another Tepid Gear type bash where the "journalists" intentionally run a car out of juice while racing hard on track and then use that obviously short track range as a range guide for daily driving.
 
#96 ·
The problem here is that I'm supposed to believe what a bunch of "bloggers" say.

Yeah, I don't think so.

To wit: I watch the Tallahassee news at night. They now have a segment where they read user's internet comments on the air as they were news. "Now, let's go to the internet desk and see what blueeyedgirl6431 thinks about this new story!"

That ain't news, it's bull****. The same as every gork with a computer that can read what other people do and then blog about it, and then draw conclusions. It's worthless crap. It's utter crap.

That's what all of this "internet car review" stuff is, it's crap. You guys have never made your bones reporting on anything or accomplishing anything. There was a time when people wrote about cars, and those people got their hands dirty and did research and busted their ass to actually learn something. You don't know anyone or have any sort of knowledge about anything that's better than mine. You know how to set up a website and write some words. Anyone could do that. It's just so unimportant.

And the internet finds it and goes crazy. And you get a million hits for some garbage that is what it is- garbage.

You can report the facts, that makes you a reporter. But you don't cite any facts.

Or you can have an opinion, in that case you need to make your bones and have some depth or breadth of knowledge that should make people you trust you.

Instead, you have no facts and you interweave that with your baseless opinions.

I hope you're making a good living at it, and I'm sorry that the internet generation is too ****ing stupid to see through your idiocy. And I'm even more sorry that that the people that actually make cars and do the hard work have to pretend to pander to your worthless opinions.

****ing Christ. The internet is gradually making us all stupider. Mostly because the people that consume your vomit don't know any better. And then they post it over and over, and no one is responsible for anything. It's the internet, lols.

You're all a bunch of lemmings being led over the cliff of truth by a bunch of ****ing nobodies.

It's really sort of ****ing depressing.
 
#98 ·
The problem here is that I'm supposed to believe what a bunch of "bloggers" say.

Yeah, I don't think so.

To wit: I watch the Tallahassee news at night. They now have a segment where they read user's internet comments on the air as they were news. "Now, let's go to the internet desk and see what blueeyedgirl6431 thinks about this new story!"

That ain't news, it's bull****. The same as every gork with a computer that can read what other people do and then blog about it, and then draw conclusions. It's worthless crap. It's utter crap.

That's what all of this "internet car review" stuff is, it's crap. You guys have never made your bones reporting on anything or accomplishing anything. There was a time when people wrote about cars, and those people got their hands dirty and did research and busted their ass to actually learn something. You don't know anyone or have any sort of knowledge about anything that's better than mine. You know how to set up a website and write some words. Anyone could do that. It's just so unimportant.

And the internet finds it and goes crazy. And you get a million hits for some garbage that is what it is- garbage.

You can report the facts, that makes you a reporter. But you don't cite any facts.

Or you can have an opinion, in that case you need to make your bones and have some depth or breadth of knowledge that should make people you trust you.

Instead, you have no facts and you interweave that with your baseless opinions.

I hope you're making a good living at it, and I'm sorry that the internet generation is too ****ing stupid to see through your idiocy. And I'm even more sorry that that the people that actually make cars and do the hard work have to pretend to pander to your worthless opinions.

****ing Christ. The internet is gradually making us all stupider. Mostly because the people that consume your vomit don't know any better. And then they post it over and over, and no one is responsible for anything. It's the internet, lols.

You're all a bunch of lemmings being led over the cliff of truth by a bunch of ****ing nobodies.

It's really sort of ****ing depressing.
How do you feel about the opinions you read on message boards?
 
#99 ·
I stopped reading Jalopnik long ago. They lost all credibility with me on their crap stories of Bugatti owners who may have spayed their car off at a sel car wash, or Lambo's parked at Walmart. That and most of their stories require constant click throughs to generate more traffic.
 
#103 ·
That and most of their stories require constant click throughs to generate more traffic.
That's certainly not true. We have no incentive to get pageviews (our metric is Unique Visitors, which is completely different and benefits 0 from pageviews). We have, typically, one post a day that's in gallery format and that's Answers Of The Day. We stopped doing it and readers got upset. And even on that post there's a prominent link telling you how to view it without clicking through multiple times.

Here's a hint, though. You find a story that's in gallery format (sometimes stories work better that way). Just remove the "gallery" part from the URL and it'll show it as a single page. I give not a flying **** about pageviews.
 
#108 ·
While the "OMG ONLY XX MINUTES!" issue with the press may not be that big of a deal with most cars, as consumers are interested in ride, quality, fit&finish, photos, and performance.....

The first question on everyone's mind with an electric car is "How far will it go?" and "How long will it take to charge?"

Maybe Tesla plans on doing this later, maybe they aren't. Let's hope they do.
 
#115 ·
While I am extraordinarily naive to the behind-the-scenes, as a consumer of these articles, if a media outlet wants to write up a First Drive based upon a 10 minute experience, I am fine with that.

It only took me 5 minutes of driving to realize the Chevrolet Cruze is a damn well built car, though the transmission saps it of power, that the Honda Civic is an utter letdown from the Civics of yesteryear, that the Altima is a great vehicle that I think is killed by a terrible transmission, that the SRX is just a little bit more cumbersome than it needs to be, etc.

If your job is knowing and writing about cars, I would think most impressions needed for a First Drive article are amassed in 10 minutes. You open the door -- this feels cheaper than its competition. You sit in the seat -- this is more supportive than its competition. You stroke the dash -- this is better assembled than its competition. You start the engine -- this sounds quieter than the competition. You press the gas peddle -- this is less responsive than the competition. You change the gears -- this feels like butter compared to the competition.

I'm an overly competitive person, so maybe that's just me, but I am constantly comparing things in that way. I would presume that's default to writing about cars?
 
#116 ·
If Jalopnik was invited to the drive and had 10 minutes of seat time and talked out physical aspects of the car aside from range...should we not trust that either?

It's pretty simple really; Jalopnik used an "absolute" in their title and instead of saying "Well, maybe you shouldn't trust MANY reviews...and here is our reasons and what we believe will happen" they just said "Don't trust ANY..."

Good journalists and bad lawyers know that words have meanings.
 
G
#122 ·
I feel like people seem to have just missed the GLOWING stories that came out of the Model X "launch" party (really, I've never seen so much hoopla for a bunch of hand-built prototypes). See:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/eco-nomics/2012/02/13/why-the-tesla-model-x-is-a-home-run/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57374536-76/teslas-model-x-finally-an-electric-car-we-all-want/

From the title "Why The Tesla Model X Is A Home Run" to this gem:

Overnight, its new car gained the reputation of being the sexiest SUV ever.
To a glowing quote from an analyst that just happens to be on Tesla's payroll, it's all a bit much in the hyperbole department.

I love this quote from CNet:

The Model X has three rows of seats and is able to hold seven adults and their luggage, something other SUVs makers cannot claim.
LOLWUT?

There are a lot of little details long stints with the car will be needed to answer--not just the battery range. Like, ah, how's that 17" touch screen going to work in the the real world--especially when the car is equipped with the panoramic sunroof? Does anyone--even kids--really want to sit in the third row? And how will they get back there anyway? Most importantly, how does the car drive compared to similarly-priced competitors including not only the Fisker Karma, but also the Porsche Panamera and the Jaguar XJ?

Tech blogs don't really know or care about the answers to those questions, which is why they tend to be the first ones invited to Tesla's events. But for Tesla to move from the fringes to the mainstream--and more importantly, make the aggressive sales targets it has set for profitability--these are the questions that will need to be answered.
 
#124 · (Edited)
I feel like people seem to have just missed the GLOWING stories that came out of the Model X "launch" party (really, I've never seen so much hoopla for a bunch of hand-built prototypes). See:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/eco-nomics/2012/02/13/why-the-tesla-model-x-is-a-home-run/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57374536-76/teslas-model-x-finally-an-electric-car-we-all-want/

From the title "Why The Tesla Model X Is A Home Run" to this gem:



To a glowing quote from an analyst that just happens to be on Tesla's payroll, it's all a bit much in the hyperbole department.

I love this quote from CNet:



LOLWUT?

There are a lot of little details long stints with the car will be needed to answer--not just the battery range. Like, ah, how's that 17" touch screen going to work in the the real world--especially when the car is equipped with the panoramic sunroof? Does anyone--even kids--really want to sit in the third row? And how will they get back there anyway? Most importantly, how does the car drive compared to similarly-priced competitors including not only the Fisker Karma, but also the Porsche Panamera and the Jaguar XJ?

Tech blogs don't really know or care about the answers to those questions, which is why they tend to be the first ones invited to Tesla's events. But for Tesla to move from the fringes to the mainstream--and more importantly, make the aggressive sales targets it has set for profitability--these are the questions that will need to be answered.
No ****!

Do you really think the auto enthusiast is going to Forbes to get a genuine fact fill review on a car? You're reaching here.

Do I read espn to get an accurate assessment of Germany's performance against the Netherlands at euro 2012? No I go to a source I know, knows what theyre talking about.

This story is just a way to discredit everyone and establish themselves as trustworthy. It's bogus, unethical and yellow. It's reeks of desperation as well.

We get it you're friends with people at jalopnik and your bias is showing as your not very good at hiding it a we know when it come to Hyundai and Kia as well. But do you honestly believe that what they're doing is ethical? Just that headline alone should throw your bs flag. Answer that honestly.
 
#123 ·
Their very own registered commenters are also bashing this trash story.

What's the point of trying to bail out the titanic?You should have abandoned ship ages ago. Now it's just a lost cause.

You can't go back from the niche of crap you've carved for yourselves.

You may be a good dude, but you're certainly doing yourself a huge disservice being associated with such terrible blogging and yellow writing.
 
#125 ·
It's simple, really. Jalopnik has no credibility. And because of that, they are the mudslinging @$$holes of the industry. They can't buy an ounce of credible journalism, so they go for the sensationalistic, attention-whore "hey look at me!" cheap shots that no one else has the immaturity to touch. Then they mine their page hits through places like the Car Lounge and other places with a forum post.

There. That's Jalopnik's M.O.

Matt at Jalopnik and I have many of the same acquaintances in the same circles. Most of them (if not ALL of them) pretty much agree with my take that Jalopnik is the lowest common denominator of Automotive Journalism.

The only thing they would need to get any worse is to hire Jack Baruth, and then they really will be the Camden NJ of the automotive world.

Honestly I almost wish the National Enquirer would start reviewing cars, so their quality journalism would push Jalopnik out of business.

And while I am bitching, from the various peeks I have had into the auto journalism "industry", I have never seen a bigger group of egotistical self-indulgent pr!cks in my life. I refuse to call out names (well, aside from the one above, who is the biggest one of them all), but there are certain people that better be grateful that they have the gift of a blog and a grasp of the written word....because that's about all they have going for them in this world.

Rant off.
 
#126 ·
I read both articles posted and they only seem optimistic at worst.

In demonstrations with journalists this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stood up inside the car to show the ample available space, a feature that makes loading or entering and exiting easier. The Model X has three rows of seats and is able to hold seven adults and their luggage, something other SUVs makers cannot claim.
This is a truth as far as I can tell. The car has a front and rear trunk - other 7 row SUVs sacrifice for EITHER passenger seating OR luggage. This car allows 7 passengers, some trunk space for luggge in the rear and more trunk space for luggage in the front.

That said, it wouldn't fit my family's luggage as we typically carry the max 2 full size checked bags, 1 carry on and 1 hand item - per person ;) Then again, we aren't comparing this to a Yukon XL -- we're talking about the CUV segment and for that case, this article is every bit FACTUAL.

Back to the other article, there is a good portion of it devoted to speaking of the specs and claims of range and charging time. The writer themselves speaks of the "possibilities". There is no falsification there - no claims of a better range or first-hand experience. Only citations of specs given by the manufacturer.

Also - this is for the Model X, not the Model S....

And now it's time to pull the English paper 101 / Journalism 101 card on the claims made in this thread: citations needed

I have yet to see a source cited which is depicting untrue, falsified, or misleading information. I have yet to see citations of anyone deying that they only had 10 minutes to review the vehicle. Instead, I see a lot of light-weight reviews about features and functionality that the writers were witness to and have experienced first hand, coupled with manufacters specs.
 
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