Re:A Most Peculiar Test Drive
by greendestiny on Thursday February 14, 2013 @07:33AM
(#5219131)
>Well, that should be obvious: the car stops.
Yeah but does it stop on zero? Does it brick the car?
As it turns out Tesla knows what they are doing, and there is a reserve, probably that's pretty disappointing as a car journalist. But hey, when did we think car journalists were on the side of car manufacturers?
Re:A Most Peculiar Test Drive
by danielweber on Thursday February 14, 2013 @11:59AM
(#5220348)
I think this is totally fair thing to try out.
But, then Broder should have mentioned it in his article, like: "I drove around for a few minutes on empty while right in front of the charging station to see what would happen. But Tesla's battery outlasted my patience and I decided just to charge instead."
Re:A Most Peculiar Test Drive
by ricardobeat on Thursday February 14, 2013 @09:55AM
(#5219671)
What reason besides stupidity would explain a reviewer intentionally bricking the car? It would be like putting vodka in the gas tank "to find out what happens".
How about to expose the stupidity of a car bricking under normal use (if it indeed would have bricked)?
Re:A Most Peculiar Test Drive
by ricardobeat on Thursday February 14, 2013 @10:42AM
(#5219913)
@tatsuke95 normal use being continue to drive in circles after the car flashes "0 miles" and "recharge immediately" in your face for minutes? Besides, it turns off before the battery is depleted for that exact reason, it won't be bricked unless you try really hard.
"Normal use" being "I forgot to get gas last night, I wonder if I have enough to make it to work and stop on the way home". Less likely for a car that gets plugged in every night and has enough range for 3-4 days, but more severe since you'd be at least 30 minutes late instead of 5 minutes.
Re:A Most Peculiar Test Drive
by ricardobeat on Thursday February 14, 2013 @12:48PM
(#5220677)
This is mind-boggling, it's like every comment starts a new, out-of-context discussion. The context here is someone purposedfully continuing to drive the car after it's empty and the "car bricking under normal use" comment. In your example it wouldn't be bricked.
why would it be unreasonable to test that in a review?
Re:A Most Peculiar Test Drive
by ricardobeat on Thursday February 14, 2013 @01:28PM
(#5221010)
it's not, but it is unreasonable to not mention it if you did it.
Well, that should be obvious: the car stops. But even if that's what he wanted to do, he should have acknowledged it. At the end of the day, there's lots of reasons to not buy a Tesla or an EV in general. But this is a question of integrity, and when it starts to sound like the reviewer didn't provide a fair review, it brings a lot of collateral damage to the entire organization.
> Well there is a lot of wiggle room for both those statements to be true.
Agree. I went back and read that portion again. It's possible that he was falsely told that the range would be greater than indicated. Or he was told that a few minutes of charging would help the range, and simply assumed that what he did was enough, while ignoring the actual displayed range.
Clarification on this point is important because that's the headline and lead photo of this article -- that he was completely stranded.