This is silly. People who take the NYT article as valid after everything that has been shown will not be convinced because 7 people make the same trip successfully. They will not be convinced if 70000 people make the trip successfully. At some point you have to realize you have made something great and you no longer need the approval of everyone to continue what your doing.

Stop the bickering and just expand your company and supercharger network.

People who take the NYT article as valid might be swayed in opinion once they hear that 7 Tesla S owners successfully completed the drive while live-video streaming the entire event.

I feel that people trust the reporting from private citizens & enthusiasts more than reporters from large publications.

Maybe you're missing the point that this is a great brand evangelism story.

They are putting their money where their mouth is: they bought the car, they are doing the drive, and they are inviting everyone to see them do it live.