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Ironically the most obvious pivot for the company is anti-EV range anxiety-as-a-service where they'll do something like triple A specifically for EVs by rolling
by VLM 10y ago
Ironically the most obvious pivot for the company is anti-EV range anxiety-as-a-service where they'll do something like triple A specifically for EVs by rolling up in a truck with a 500 HP giant diesel generator and fast charge your EV anywhere in a service area, eliminating range anxiety.
Honestly you could probably run something like that without any capital expense at all by just collecting monthly premiums and advertising "$1000 if we can't charge your EV in an hour" and then never paying out due to fine print or paying out $1000 in service gift certificates. If you sell enough plans then you could consider maybe building the truck for real.
I wonder what a 500 HP generator at full battery charging blast sounds like in a residential neighborhood at 2am. Probably similar to a freight train. That alone might be entertaining.
- FireBeyond 10y agoWhat could be greener than having your EV filled by a diesel generator?
- outworlder 10y agoWell, that's exactly what I thought when I read about that service. Since I drive a Leaf, a gas fill-up would be useless to me. Many EV owners would object to having their car being charged by a dirty diesel generator. Plus, if we are hauling a giant generator, what about a giant battery pack? Someone will have to do the math on that. As well as a "rescue" vehicle, it could be very useful as a temporary "mobile quick charger" when traveling to underserved spots (say, you want to cross Nevada on EV). Schedule a time and place, meet your "tanker", refuel and keep going.
- toomuchtodo 10y agoAAA has service trucks with generators for EVs on them. An AAA membership is something like $100/year. Too late Silicon Valley! Go growth hack something else! https://electrek.co/2016/09/06/aaa-ev-emergency-charging-truck/ https://electrek.co/2016/09/06/aaa-ev-emergency-charging-tru...
- frakkingcylons 10y ago> I wonder what a 500 HP generator at full battery charging blast sounds like in a residential neighborhood at 2am. I think you had a good idea with the on-demand EV charging, but I would imagine they'd have a truck with a high-capacity battery (like Tesla's Powerwall) which could be charged via solar panels.
- logfromblammo 10y ago> could be charged via solar panels. ...but would actually be charged via grid power or internal combustion engine generator 99% of the time.
- CPLX 10y ago> Honestly you could probably run something like that without any capital expense at all by just collecting monthly premiums and advertising "$1000 if we can't charge your EV in an hour" and then never paying out due to fine print or paying out $1000 in service gift certificates. That's one of the most succinct examples of a certain patently unethical SV style way of thinking about business I've ever seen. Perhaps Parker Conrad's got the bandwidth to be a cofounder. I mean, I know it was posted tongue in cheek, but taking money from people and then leaving them stranded is, you know, wrong.
- madamelic 10y agoNot to mention the irony in using a diesel generator to re-charge electric vehicles meant to save the environment.