Revenge of the Electric Car Page #2

AND HE PUT, YOU KNOW, A TREMENDOUS AMOUN OF HIS PERSONAL PRESTIGE AND PERSONAL WEALTH

INTO THAT COMPANY.

- WELL, SO FAR, THIS IS A VERY EXPENSIVE CAR.

CALL THIS THE $50 MILLION CAR.

'CAUSE THAT'S ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY

THAT I'VE INVESTED IN TESLA.

SO IT'S KIND OF EXPENSIVE.

- DETROIT IS DOING A LOUSY JOB MAKING CARS AND MAKING MONEY.

I MEAN, IT'S A DISASTER.

SO, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA THAT SILICON VALLEY

COULD DO A BETTER JOB MAKING CARS,

ESPECIALLY ELECTRIC CARS, IS A VERY POWERFUL ONE.

- WE'VE GOT MODEL TWO IN DEVELOPMENT,

WHICH WE'RE PLANNING TO UNVEIL

PROBABLY IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THIS YEAR,

WHICH IS THE ELECTRIC SEDAN.

ELON'S A CAREER TROUBLEMAKER.

HE'S TAKEN ON THE BANKS, THE SPACE INDUSTRY,

AND NOW THE CAR COMPANIES.

- OKAY, SURE YOU WANT ME TO DRIVE IT?

ALL RIGHT.

SWEET.

IT'S PRETTY AWESOME.

- FOR ME, ELON MUSK HAS ALWAYS BEEN

NOT REALLY SO MUCH A CAR GUY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR.

HE'S HAD LOTS OF COMPANIES IN THE PAST.

HE SOLD PAY PAL TO EBAY.

- I JUST LOOK AT WHAT HE'S ACCOMPLISHED,

AND I'M LIKE, "JEEZ, I BETTER START WORKING HARDER

"BECAUSE I'M NOT MAKING

THOSE KIND OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN MY LIFE."

- IT'S JUST A GIANT KICK IN THE BALLS

TO THE PEOPLE THAT SAID WE COULDN'T DO I AND THAT COMMERCIAL SPACE DOESN'T WORK.

- ELON MUSK IS ABOUT AS CLOSE AS YOU'RE GONNA GE IN REAL LIFE TO TONY STARK,

AND IT SHOWS YOU HOW ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

WITH A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SMARTS

AND INSPIRATION TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK.

- SUDDENLY, THERE WAS THE TESLA ANNOUNCEMENT.

200-MILE RANGE,

0 TO 60 IN 4-POINT-SOMETHING SECONDS,

140-MILE-AN-HOUR TOP SPEED, 6,831 LAPTOP BATTERIES.

AND I BASICALLY SAID, "WELL, NOW, WAIT A MINUTE.

"I'VE ACCEPTED EVERYBODY'S ARGUMENTS

"OF WHY WE CAN'T DO THIS,

"BUT HERE'S THIS SMALL STARTUP COMPANY IN CALIFORNIA,

AND THEY THINK THAT THEY CAN GET ALL OF THESE FIGURES."

ELON'S COUP WAS JUST WHAT BOB NEEDED

TO DRAG GM BACK INTO THE RACE.

THEY WEREN'T GOING TO BE SHOWN UP

BY A BUNCH OF SILICON VALLEY UPSTARTS.

- IT WAS A POWERFUL ARGUMENT,

SO WHETHER TESLA IS EVER HUGELY SUCCESSFUL OR NOT,

I'LL ALWAYS OWE THEM A DEBT OF GRATITUDE

FOR HAVING KIND OF BROKEN THE ICE.

- BOB LUTZ BEING A CHAMPION OF ELECTRIC CARS

IS QUITE A SWITCH FROM THE BOB LUTZ WE USED TO KNOW.

HE SOLD THE BOARD ON THE FACT THAT THIS TECHNOLOGY

WOULD LEAPFROG TOYOTA, WHICH HAD BEEN GM'S NEMESIS.

- THE ELECTRIC CAR WAS PUSHED ALL THE WAY UP THE LADDER

BY LUTZ HIMSELF IN A WAY THAT IS VERY, VERY PERSONAL,

A WAY THAT SUGGESTS HE REGARDS I AS HIS LEGACY AT THE COMPANY.

BUT THE VOLT WASN'T GOING TO BE A PURE ELECTRIC CAR.

THAT WAS A STEP TOO FAR FOR GM,

SO THE COMPANY BE ON AN ELECTRIC CAR WITH A BACKUP GAS ENGINE.

THIS WOULD GIVE IT MORE RANGE

WHEN THE BATTERIES RAN OUT OF POWER.

AND THEN BOB PERSUADED THE COMPANY

TO PUT THE VOLT FRONT AND CENTER

AT GM'S 100TH BIRTHDAY PARTY.

- WE'RE IN THE EXECUTIVE GARAGE

IN THE BASEMENT OF THE RENAISSANCE CENTER,

AND THIS IS THE MOST SECURE LOCATION

THAT WE COULD FIND IN THE BUILDING.

YOU'LL NOTICE WE HAVE PLENTY OF SECURITY DOWN HERE.

AND HERE IS OUR BABY.

- IT'S NOW MY GREAT PLEASURE TO PRESENT TO YOU

THE PRODUCTION VERSION OF THE CHEVROLET VOLT.

- HOW'D IT FEEL DRIVING IN AN ELECTRIC CAR?

- IT FELT GREAT, CHRIS.

I WAS--

I'M SURPRISED YOU WOULD ASK.

- IS THE ELECTRIC CAR BACK FROM THE DEAD?

- WELL, YOU COULD ARGUE, WAS IT EVER DEAD?

BECAUSE I THINK PEOPLE WERE, EVEN AFTER WE RECALLED THE EV1s,

THERE WERE STILL ELECTRIC VEHICLES OUT THERE.

BUT I THINK IT'S BACK WITH A VENGEANCE,

AND I WOULD SAY THE ELECTRIFICATION

OF THE AUTOMOBILE IS A FOREGONE CONCLUSION.

- AS AN ANALYST AND A LONG-TIME JOURNALIST,

I WAS STILL CYNICAL,

BECAUSE WE'D SEEN A LOT OF CONCEPT CARS

THAT HAD GOTTEN ALL THE HOOPLA AT THE AUTO SHOWS

AND THEN FADED AND DIED.

SOME PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO WAIT AROUND

FOR CORPORATIONS.

AROUND THE WORLD,

AN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT IS GROWING.

THESE PEOPLE ARE MAKING THEIR OWN ELECTRIC CARS

RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW.

- I'M GADGET.

BEEN LIVING AND WORKING IN THIS WAREHOUSE FOR 16 YEARS,

AND THEN FOR THE LAST COUPLE YEARS,

I'VE BEEN DOING ELECTRIC CARS.

WHAT I DO IS, I TAKE A CAR,

AND I CHANGE IT FROM GAS POWER TO ELECTRIC.

IT'S A LOT GREENER TO TAKE AN EXISTING CAR

RATHER THAN MAKING A NEW ONE FROM SCRATCH.

I'VE GOT A TRIUMPH SPITFIRE,

A GT6,

AND A '67 CAMARO.

MY LATEST PROJECT IS A 356 PORSCHE SPEEDSTER.

- WE GOT MARRIED.

WE WERE BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER IN THIS BUILDING, AND--

- WE JUST FINISHED OUR PROTOTYPE.

LITHIUM ION, OVER 120 MILES OF RANGE.

- FINALLY, WE'VE GOT SOMETHING REAL HERE.

THIS IS THE FUTURE, YOU KNOW?

AND IT'S ATTAINABLE, AND WE CAN ALL HAVE ONE.

- I CAN'T WAIT TO DRIVE THIS AROUND

AND SHOW IT OFF TO PEOPLE.

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF GADGETS OUT THERE.

TOGETHER, THEY'RE A FORCE WHICH COULD POTENTIALLY RIVAL

THE BIG CAR COMPANIES.

BUT FOR THE BIG PLAYERS,

THE STAKES TONIGHT ARE EVEN HIGHER.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME GM HAS FACED

THE ELECTRIC CAR COMMUNITY SINCE THE EV1 DISASTER.

- THIS IS THE HALO FOR US.

HOPEFULLY, WE'RE GONNA USE THIS

TO WIN BACK AND RECAPTURE THE HEARTS AND MINDS

OF THE AMERICAN CAR-BUYING PUBLIC.

WE'VE GOT TO.

I'M NOT DARTH VADER.

I'M NOT A BAD GUY. I'M NOT A LIAR.

I'M A FATHER. I'M A DAD.

I'M A HUSBAND THAT REALLY CARES ABOUT DOING THE RIGHT THING,

AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET PEOPLE TO BELIEVE ME

IS TO TALK LIKE THAT, RIGHT?

AND NOW THEY'VE GOT TESLA

BITING AT THEIR HEELS TOO.

- TESLA IS DEFINITELY THE STAR OF THE SHOW.

THEY'RE-- YOU LOOK AT THE TWO CARS--

THERE'S NOT REALLY ANY COMPETITION.

- THE TESLA HAS A VERY HIGH PRICE POINT.

I KNOW THAT THERE ARE SOME SORT OF BATTERY ISSUES

GOING ON WITH THE TESLA, SO IT'S DIFFERENT.

IT'S IN ITS OWN LITTLE CATEGORY.

THE CHEVY VOLT IS GONNA BE SOMETHING

THAT'S MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE COMPARED TO THE TESLA

FOR EVERYDAY CONSUMERS TO PURCHASE.

- THAT IS GORGEOUS.

- IT IS GORGEOUS, BUT IT'S 100 GRAND.

BUT WE NEED SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE CAN AFFORD.

- THE VOLT ONE, I THINK, SPEAKS TO ME

JUST BECAUSE IT'S PRACTICAL,

BUT THAT ONE SPEAKS TO ME BECAUSE IT'S FAST AND COOL.

PUT ME DOWN FOR ONE OF EACH.

- IT IS VERY GOOD TO HAVE SOMETHING

THAT IS A STOPGAP FOR GENERAL MOTORS

TO ULTIMATELY CUT THE UMBILICAL CORD

OF FOSSIL FUELS AND GET REALLY ONTO ELECTRICITY,

AND IF THAT MEANS THAT WE HAVE SOME COMPETITION, GOOD.

IT'S GOOD FOR US.

- I LOVE HAVING GM HERE.

YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT THEY'VE GO A RANGE-EXTENDED ELECTRIC--

IF PEOPLE DRIVE THAT CAR

AND FIND THAT THEY NEVER FUEL IT UP,

THAT MEANS THAT THEY'LL REALIZE THAT THEY DON'T NEED A GAS CAR.

THEY CAN GO PURE ELECTRIC.

SO IT'S A STEPPING STONE.

BY NOW, WE WERE BEHIND ENEMY LINES.

FIVE YEARS AGO,

WE WOULD'VE BEEN ARRESTED TRYING TO GET IN HERE.

NOW WE WERE BOB'S GUESTS.

THE QUESTION WAS, WHO WAS PLAYING WHO?

HAD BOB BECOME A TRUE BELIEVER,

OR WAS HE JUST STRINGING US ALONG?

- THIS IS ONE OF THE OLD MALIBUS,

BUT IT WAS DIMENSIONALLY CLOSE ENOUGH

THAT WE COULD PUT ALL THE VOLT HARDWARE

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