Pulitzer Prize-winning automobile journalist has bet electric-car maker Tesla’s Elon Musk $1,000,000 that Tesla won’t reach its new release dates for the much anticipated Model S electric luxury sedan.
Because Musk, who is an entrepreneur, has made many comments and promises about the new Tesla Model S sedan and many of them have turned into busts, Neil had called Musk out on his failures. Musk was last heard making more promises about the new Tesla Model S, but Neil doesn’t believe that he can get it done.
To encourage Musk, Neil bet that lumpy sum of money and Musk would win if: a series of production models of the Tesla Model S have been delivered to paying customers before end of 2012; the Model S has seven passenger seats certified by the NHTSA with a four- or five-star safety rating (which doesn’t make sense, because the Model S is a sedan, not an MPV); it has to have a swappable battery pack; and the Model S price has to remain at the amount that Tesla and Musk had originally announced.
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Neil said that if he wins, Musk must donate $1,000,000 to the “Doctors Without Borders” charity. But if Tesla wins, Neil will have to be the one to donate.
“I like, respect, and admire Musk,” Neil said. “And I want desperately to lose this bet. I know what it takes to start a car company. Credibility is the most important thing in the green-car climate; if you don’t deliver what people expect, it tends to discredit the technology in general.”
Tesla Model S Alpha:
- By: Chris Chin
Source: Green Car Reports
