By Natasha L. Foreman, MBA

Tesla Motors possibly feels under attack by New York Times writer, John Broder, who claimed that he had two negative incidents while in the possession of a Tesla Model S. One incident he claimed that occurred while driving was the car’s inability to operate in low temperatures, causing Broder to turn off the heating system (and almost freeze his own body in the process). His second claim was that while parked at a hotel overnight, the Model S was drained of all electricity by the next day.

Well Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not taking those criticisms lightly. Musk has since used data from the car’s own computer logs to prove Broder’s claims as false.

After first running across the story from the Techterram blog, a quick search on the Internet popped up numerous stories, including one from CNET sharing how Elon Musk, during his press conference in Geneva (for Model X and Model S) responded to another reporter who mentioned the review published by Broder. The reporter obviously believed Broder’s review, as media outlets including CNET, report that the reporter kept badgering Musk, who flatly repeated that the car logs don’t lie but that Broder’s review was much like a Dr. Seuss poem.

The New York Times is a trusted financial media source that many wake to each day. Many companies have been hit hard by or elevated significantly by what is written in publications such as the New York Times.

Will Broder’s review carry enough weight to negatively impact Tesla’s stock prices? Or will the fast movements of Élan Musk to clear his car’s reputation cause investors to think twice before turning their backs on the company who only went public roughly three years ago?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Sources:
http://techterram.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/one-review-lots-of-possible-losses-for-tesla-motors/

http://m.cnet.com/news/teslas-elon-musk-flames-times-review-in-geneva/57572660?ds=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/automobiles/stalled-on-the-ev-highway.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0