Billionaire inventor Elon Musk yesterday slammed a New York Times review of his Tesla Model S as “fake” and promised to schedule further media road tests to prove his car’s mettle.
The Times’ story on Feb. 10 claimed the electric Model S did not live up to its 300-mile range in colder climates — something that could cut into its appeal in the Northeast.
The difficulties with the Model S — written by reporter John Broder in sometimes humorous and sometimes painful detail — sent shares of Tesla tumbling 4.4 percent at the open.
Musk, chairman and CEO of the start-up, did not take the news lying down.
“NYTimes article about Tesla range in cold is fake,” he tweeted to his 132,950 followers early in the afternoon.
Musk blasted Broder’s account on Twitter, saying that vehicle logs in all media test cars suggest Broder didn’t properly charge the battery and that he “took a long detour” through Manhattan and drove faster than instructed — sapping battery life.
“Vehicle logs tell true story,” Musk tweeted.
Tesla shares closed yesterday at $38.42, down 2.1 percent.
The Palo Alto, Calif. company’s Model S, its first affordable model, is crucial to the startup’s success and its promised swing to profitability this year.
Broder was testing the company’s claim that the sedan — which can cost as much as $90,000 — has a range of up to 300 miles under ideal conditions.
Tesla recently installed super-charging stations in Newark, Del., and Milford, Conn., and said the stations made travel between Washington, DC, and Boston possible.
The road trip aimed to test Tesla’s claim.
Broder, who blamed the freezing weather for his adventure gone wrong, said the Model S battery kept running low of power. When he called Tesla for help, they advised him to turn off his heat to conserve energy — which left the car’s interior a little less than comfortable.
“All the while, my feet were freezing and my knuckles were turning white,” he said.
Roughly two-thirds through the south-to-north trip — and charges at the two stations, Broder spent the night in Groton, Conn. — leaving the car at day’s end with enough power to reach his final destination.
But the next morning, with temperature hovering at 10 degrees, the power in the car’s battery had nearly been depleted.
Tesla helped Broder find an emergency charging station, but even that didn’t get him far. Shortly after the unscheduled charge in nearby Norwich and restarting his trip, the engine shut down as the batteries ran out.
It was then that Tesla called the tow truck.
The Times stood by the story, saying Broder’s “test drive in a Tesla Model S was completely factual, describing the trip in detail exactly as it occurred.”
“Any suggestion that the account was ‘fake’ is, of course, flatly untrue,” a spokeswoman said.