Dumb Ideas That Will Get Dumber With Time: Tesla

Updates

June 1, 2013: Speaking of dumb ideas. California mandates that EVs must account for 15% of all car sales by 2025 (currently, the number is about 1%). So, the car companies are pretty much giving them away. Why didn't California simply mandate that EV's must account for 100% of all car sales by 2014 and make it really exciting? Why does this story make me think of ObamaPhones -- free for everyone who couldn't otherwise afford them?

Original Post 

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Tesla Motors said Thursday it plans to significantly boost the number of electric-vehicle charging stations near key U.S. cities over the next couple of years. 

But there’s a catch: The so-called “superchargers” will only work for Tesla’s Model S. So, for example, drivers of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s popular all-electric Leaf car– the electric vehicle of choice for the middle class – won’t be able to use the Tesla superchargers. 

Automakers have complained that a key barrier to greater public adoption of electric vehicles is a dearth of quick-charge public charging stations. Companies such as NRG Energy Inc. NRG and Ecotality Inc. have been working to install more higher-voltage fast-charging stations in California and other states, where drivers of just about any electric vehicle can recharge their battery more quickly than they can with the old, Level 2 slow-chargers that can take hours. 

Tesla drivers can use any public charging station to recharge their vehicle, a Tesla spokeswoman said.

This will endear them to Americans. And they say Apple is elitist.