> This is a very smart move by Musk from a PR point of view.
This is an awful PR move if he's wrong. I hope he's sure.
This is an awful PR move if he's wrong. I hope he's sure.
If he is correct, this will become an even larger main stream news story and there is a good chance that his prescience will be picked up and included in how it is reported.
More importantly, if this becomes a major story, he has preempted the inevitable look at other products (tesla) which include li-ion batteries by describing the distinction between the two. This could become a major shitstorm that Tesla gets rolled into but by making this statement he's getting out in front of it and shaping how that story will be told.
If he is wrong, the batteries are fine and there is no story.
As an aside, his intro chemistry lectures are excellent, entertaining, and available online. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/materials-science-and-engineering...