Austin Carver

Professor Padgett
English 102
February 29, 2016
Tesla Motors
Inquiry: How will Tesla Motors alter the future of the car industry?
Professional Engineering. Nov2015, Vol. 28 Issue 11, p45-45. 1/9p.
Professional Engineering does a great job in stating its argument about Tesla Motors.
Professional Engineering is claiming that the anxiety people have against electric cars could be
alleviated because of Teslas new charging stations. They state Therefore it may be the case that
range anxiety could be alleviated(pg.45) The conclusion was reached based on general
research and reasoning. The main reason people are skeptical of electric cars is because they are
too scared to travel long distances in case they do not make it back to their charging stations.
Professional Engineering is arguing that the new charging stations will cause this fear to
disappear. Again they state Technology advancement that reduces charging time while
improving reliability, safety and robustness of the electric charging system will encourage EV
adoption (pg. 45). Credibility is reached through this source because it is pulled form a
published book. This published book was found on our school library database. Not only is it a
published book but it is from a professional company who is known for their academic writings.
The source was published in 2015 which means it is relevant and not outdated. This also adds to
the credibility of the source. Even though the source is from a credible site, it still has bias. A lot
of what is being said in Professional Engineering is what they as research believe is going to
happen. They do not have any hard facts on the subject. Overall the source is considered
credible. The source is suitable for my project. This is true because the source shows a positive
outlook on Tesla Motors and can help me prove the argument that I stated. I could use this article
to show where Tesla may be heading in the future.

Austin Carver
Professor Padgett
English 102
February 29, 2016
Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Jan2014, Vol. 68 Issue 1, p74-75. 2p.
Just like the source in the prior paragraph, Kiplingers Personal Finance is an academic
book. The central claim of this particular section is to provide the reader with the results of a test
drive of a Tesla vehicle. Kiplinger went out and drove a Tesla vehicle and wrote about her
experience. The author states As I cross the bridge over the Potomac River, I press the
accelerator to the floor and whooosshhh1'm flying (pg. 74). The author is conveying her
experience to the author. She does this by describing a personal experience she had with the car.
As unfortunate as it may be, this article may have some bias in it. The author is only talking
about her personal experience. This helps discredit the author and can make them come across as
not being credible. The author does however gain credibility because of the book that was
published. This book was an academic book and is scholarly. Just like the first source this adds
credibility. Written in 2014, Kiplingers Personal Finance is relatively up to date. This also
creates credibility. This article could be used in my project because it shows a real account of
someone using on one of Teslas vehicles. While the source may be a little biased, it can still be
used because of the real world example provided.
New York Times. 10/21/2015, Vol. 165 Issue 57026, pB3-B3. 1/3p.
In Consumer Reports Stops Recommending the Tesla, Mouawad discusses the issue of
Consumer Reports stopping recommending Tesla Motors. The article shows some problems that
the consumers are having with the Tesla vehicles. It shows personal experiences and reports
about how Tesla Motors still have some problems that the consumers want to be fixed. Alongside
the public, the article also references a vehicle tester who also said the car has its issues. The

Austin Carver
Professor Padgett
English 102
February 29, 2016
point of the article was to show why Consumer Reports is no longer recommending Tesla.
Ultimately, this article is credible because it was found on the library database. In addition to
being on the library database, this article also references some key researchers and testers who
provide their argument some credibility. The article was published late 2015 which once again
creates credibility. I could use this for my project because it shows the opposite side of my
argument and it shows actual real life examples of people who have found the car to have issues.
MIT Technology Review. Jul/Aug2014, Vol. 117 Issue 4, p19-19. 2/3p. 1 Black and
White Photograph.
In Selling Teslas in China Wont Do Much for the Environment, Pirjanian discuses the
issue that selling Teslas to China may not be enough to cure the problems they are having. He
states Because burning coal produces far more particulates than burning gasoline... This shows
his central claim which is that Tesla will not be enough to completely cure the environment in
China. This article is pulled out of an academic newspaper that was written at MIT which is one
of the strongest technology schools around. Alongside this the author clearly has done his
research witch gives him plenty of credibility. This article does not have much bias in it. The
author is stating facts not opinions which shows he doesnt have a lot of bias and can in turn give
him more credibility. This article is important to my future project because it shows a persons
opinion on how Tesla is hurting the environment just as much as it is helping it. He is saying that
Tesla is good for cities but not for rural areas. The article was written in 2014 which is relatively
close in date.
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. Jan2015, Vol. 40 Issue 4, p1625-1638. 14p.

Austin Carver
Professor Padgett
English 102
February 29, 2016
In the academic Journal Changing the fate of Fuel Cell Vehicles: Can
lessons be learnt from Tesla Motors? Harman discuses the future for Tesla
and the struggles of fuel cell vehicles succeeding in the market. Harmans
main point of discussion is that of fuel cell vehicles and how companies like
Tesla are in the low end of the market. He is arguing that companies like
Tesla will never succeed until the succeed in the market. This can be
important to my future project because it shows a different side of my
argument. Instead of talking about the car itself, it talks about the market
and how the company can succeed. This is just as important as the other
sources because without the market Tesla would not be the company they
are today. Harmon is a credible writer because he is writing for academic
journal which is peer-edited. Harmon is not completely biased in his writing.
For most of his essay Harmon is stating facts about the market but Harmon
also states some opinions on how Tesla should improve their marketing skills.
This adds bias to the article but does not take away any credibility.
Motor Trend. Jan2016, Vol. 68 Issue 1, p142-145. 4p. 11 Color Photographs, 1 Chart.
In Wings Cammisa directly reflects on and evaluates Teslas most recent car the Model
X. He does a great job in showing the features of the car and what the car looks like on the
inside. His claim is that the Model X is sweeping the tech shows with all of its new technology
and interior design. This is Teslas first crossover and can seat seven people. Cammisa says The
Model X is a rolling tech showcase that should do a far better job of appealing to moms than the

Austin Carver
Professor Padgett
English 102
February 29, 2016
S sedan does. Cammisa is showing how the latest design is going to be more appealing to a
certain kind of person than others. This is important to my future program because it gives an
actual description of the car including the inside and the tech that is involved with it. This gives
me another aspect of the argument that can show the technology advancements of Tesla Motors.
Out of all of my sources this is the most recent one. It was published in 2016 which means it is
up to date on its facts and issues. This is important when discussing an articles credibility. This
article is credible because it was written by a company called Motor Trend which specializes in
vehicles of all types.

Austin,
I dont want to muddy up this draft with a bunch of comments saying similar
things, so Im going to leave the rest of my comments as holistic. In terms of
nuts and bolts things: you need to get your citations correct and you should
understand the difference between a book and a journal and a
magazine and make sure youre getting those respective citations correct.
You seem to have compiled some interesting work here, but Im not getting
the sense of what youll be arguing. You vaguely point to where Tesla will
take us, but I dont get why this matters. Heres a silly metaphor: we value
the predictions of a meteorologist because that affects us and we can do
something about his predictions (like change our weekend plans). But if

Austin Carver
Professor Padgett
English 102
February 29, 2016
someone is predicting that Nintendo is going out of business, that only
affects a select group of people, and for everyone else, its only vaguely
interesting, but ultimately is unimportant. So who is your audience and why
does this matter? Theres obviously an environmental argument here to be
had, but I dont get the sense that you are synthesizing that research for
specifically environmental reasons, or any reason outside of general
interest, which isnt quite enough for an academic paper, if that makes
sense. In other words, where is the exigency? This is a fascinating topic here,
but I need a bit more.

Austin Carver
Professor Padgett
English 102
February 29, 2016