While no fan of either the NYT or electric vehicles, the journolist while deliberately sabotaging the test, unwittingly exposed a flaw in electric vehicles overall:
You can't rely on them in an emergency.
If the car had to be used in an emergency, say -- get the wife to the hospital to deliver a baby -- and hadn't been charged "enough" what would've happened? Baby born on the side of the road, that's what.
And therein lies the problem with Tesla. They fit a specific use case, but don't anyone with a fully functioning brain rely on one in an emergency unless you know damn' well it's got a full charge to go the distance required.
In my >700 mi range TDI, I can safely carry at least 12 5-gal Diesel “cans”, theoretically giving me a ~3750 mi. range.