CNBC And CNN Give The Tesla S Rave Reviews - But Both Mention The Same Glaring Concern
The latter journey resulted in an epic war-of-words between the paper of record and Tesla's voluble CEO, Elon Musk.
Valdes-Dapena and LeBeau, meanwhile, made it to their destinations mostly without incident, and came away impressed with the Model S's performance.
"Even if you're not driving from Washington to Boston, it's an impressive car, all on its own," Valdes-Dapena wrote.
But he and LeBeau both mention the exact same element about the Tesla experience — the same one that lies at the heart of Broder's complaint about the car: charge anxiety.
Valdes-Dapena: "I made it to Boston, though not without some anxiety that I would run out of juice."
LeBeau: "So knowing I had enough energy, why did I have a little range anxiety? As I watched the battery life count down there was a little voice in the back of my head saying, "Are you absolutely sure you aren't going to get lost going to the Tesla store outside Boston?" Of course, I knew we wouldn't if we followed the navigation, and ultimately we did have enough power.
This is exactly why our Henry Blodget called electric cars "dead on arrival":
...they're not that useful for one of the key uses that most would-be car-owners would want to use them for -- the ability to comfortably, conveniently, and reliably transport oneself from city to city without living in fear that the battery will die and leave car and driver stranded.
This story was originally published by CNBC.