I don't think it's reasonable to expect the consumer to do research of any sort. It would be very easy for Tesla to mention this at the time of purchase, document it, and also provide a dashboard notification of some sort.
Based on what drzaiusapelord said I don't think there is any research required of any sort.
When you buy a Tesla the following happens:
You are vebally told about this.
You are then shown a document to sign that you were told about this
Your car will beep loudly when its under 5% charge
If its a newer Tesla it will beep and also log an issue with the service center, who will then continue to call you to tell you to plug it in.
No boat experience required.
Funny how neither the linked post nor Tesla's official statement on the subject [1] mention any of that stuff.
That omission is either just monumentally bad PR, or they're not really that fastidious or consistent about educating the customer. (Not that I doubt drzaiusapelord, but if they were, you think they'd be shouting that from the rooftops rather than leaving it to random commenters on HN to explain.)
