Mr. Broder responded to the Tesla charges on The Times’s Wheels blog the next day, saying he followed instructions from company personnel over the phone and that his “long detour” amounted to two miles. Still, readers commenting on the post blamed him for the battery’s depletion. A reader using the handle MotoEV from Charlotte, N.C., said:

“What is so disturbing about the initial review and this follow-up post is the apparent lack of common sense and refusal to accept personal responsibility. How can you (Mr. Broder) properly report on something without doing your homework in advance of the drive?”

Resident1728 of Virginia had a different viewpoint:

“The newspaper was absolutely correct in selecting someone to test-drive the vehicle, who was not a so-called expert. I’m not sure the paper had anyone fitting that description to start with, given the unusual circumstances and rules of driving they gave out. It is the common man that auto companies should be pointing at for sales purposes, not some engineer that can fiddle and faddle with this switch, that adjustment, etc.”

Technology Web sites took notice. On Wired.com, Chelsea Sexton, a prominent advocate of electric cars, wrote on Feb. 12:

“Tesla positions the Model S as the first ‘no compromise EV’ able (with the Supercharger network) to take the proverbial ‘Vegas on a moment’s notice’ road trip. Yet after pitching the trip idea to Broder in the first place, Tesla’s own staff needed to issue carefully detailed instructions and make follow-up contact along the way to ensure he got to his destination. In doing so, they busted their own road trip myth before Broder ever left the driveway.”

The blog post promised by Mr. Musk appeared with a date stamp of Feb. 13. This detailed document, including charts of speed, charge levels and cabin temperature, included a charge that Mr. Broder intentionally tried to make the Model S fail, summing up: “When the facts didn’t suit his opinion, he simply changed the facts.”

The post was greeted enthusiastically on the Tesla site, with calls for investigations and firings. CBlack wrote:

“Looks clear that Mr. Broder intended to do whatever necessary to give a negative review of the Model S. I hope the New York Times retracts his article and gives a public apology to Tesla Motors.”

Others voiced skepticism, asking for the car’s data logs to be made available. (Mr. Musk has declined to release them.) Another point was raised by christianhgross:

“To travel 550 miles he had to charge 4 times? In other words, spend about 1 to 2 hours doing nothing? Granted maybe you want to eat a bite, but 4 times?”