He's a freaking journalist. He should always approach note taking in the most careful, rigorous manner, regardless of whether he thinks his subject will be able to second-guess his conclusions.
Definitely not worshiping Musk here, but if you can get a rocket to dock with the ISS, I'm pretty sure you can collect charge state, speed, and cabin environment control settings pretty accurately.
And now maybe he and other journalists will know not to write damaging pieces based on shoddy notes and their vague recollection of what happened. If Tesla Motors had told him in advance that they were collecting data, then he would have been more careful in that specific review, and then when he went to report on a less resourceful company that couldn't keep tabs on him, he'd fuck them like he tried to fuck Tesla.
The fact is that Tesla has been bitten by this kind of thing before (see Top Gear). Who can blame them for wanting to set an example at the nearest opportunity?
The customer's perception is more important than the car sellers data.
>Who can blame them for wanting to set an example at the nearest opportunity?
Set an example of what? That if you don't write a glowing review they're going to throw an infantile fit on the internet?
Set an example of what happens when you fudge facts to get a better story.