NYT Tesla Model S Was Completely Dead, According To Towing Company

It's been an eventful couple of days for Tesla Motors, in which the New York Times gave the company's new car, the Model S, a bad review because the car died prematurely. However, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk says otherwise, noting that the battery wasn't completely dead, but according to the towing company that was called out to tow the new car, the battery was, indeed, completely dead.

However, an anonymous source that claims to have access to the data logs of the car says that the car's battery had enough juice to go another five miles or so, but the smaller 12V battery that powers accessories and such (and which gets its power from the main battery) ended up shutting down. When the NYT reviewer pulled into the service station, he ended up turning off the car, which was apparently something he wasn't supposed to do.

However, if the reviewer was told not to turn the car off, then this whole fiasco may end up being his mistake, but if Tesla said nothing of the sort, the blame could fall on the company. So, essentially, neither Telsa or the reviewer are right, but neither of them are also wrong. It seems it'll come down to what information Tesla gave the reviewer during the briefing.

While the tow truck driver hasn't commented directly on the situation, dispatch at the towing company reports that the car's battery pack was completely drained, and the tow truck driver was actually on the phone with a Tesla employee trying to figure out how to get the Model S onto the flatbed towing truck because the car was completely immovable due to the parking brake being inoperable.

[via Jalopnik]