[Geoff]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wgk5-eB9oTY#!

Elon Musk talks about Tesla and the planned "Supercharger" network at the opening ceremony of the Superchargers. Answers questions about Electric Car "limitations".

I believe the Volt can not accept a Level 3 charge, is this correct? Maybe Tesla will provide an L2 plug or two? Maybe GM will put in a similar set of chargers?

Driving forever for FREE is a very compelling sales pitch.

Geoff

 

[Geoff]

This is the beauty of the Volt design. You don't need to deploy vast networks of chargers to quick charge. At some point, you have to ask the question, how much effort and money is it worth not to from time to time burn a gallon of gas. Leaf owners, when they ask me when I bother to lug around an engine I don't need very often get this reply: "because I'd rather haul around an inexpensive engine that gives me limitless range when I want it, than a battery pack that is twice as large as I need it to be and a lot more expensive that have limited range"

I think pure electric cars, until batterys are super cheap, are really a niche, more more so than a car like a Volt.

One step at a time...

The point of my post was to get people thinking about the notion of FREE Power available everywhere through PV installations as commonplace as gas stations are today. Also to consider the genius of the marketing pitch "drive forever, for free".

The more electric cars there are on the roads the more this sort of charging infrastructure will be convenient and available. As Volt owners we are not limited by range but I believe we would all prefer to run electric over gas and would benefit from widely available charging.

Think forwards, not backwards.

 

[Geoff]

As of now you get "free" charging only when you by a Tesla.

You can also get "free" cloud space on Google and a host of other sites. You don't pay any money but your information and data is valuable and is used for advertising, translation and other purposes. This is the non-cash price of "free".
This "free" storage wasn't available until forward thinking companies figured out a way to make it work.

Along comes Elon Musk with the forward thinking and resources and balls to try out "driving for free". To avail yourself of this benefit you only need buy a Tesla. If you don't buy a Tesla then you don't get "free" power. I don't see any part where your wallet is plundered.

Consider if GM did a similar thing, do you think this strategy might help sell a lot more EV's? Might it put electric vehicles in a more positive light? Could it be of some direct benefit to you some day?

Think forward, not backwards.

 

[Geoff]

Another article on chargers, plugs and standards.
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/09/ev-plug-wars/