Sarah Palin Tesla, Over the weekend, former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin took to Facebook to discuss electric vehicles.
Writing about the trouble with Fisker, the struggling luxury electric car maker which had to slash its workforce last week, she said it joined other 'Obama-backed' losers like the Chevy Volt and Tesla, which she said "turns into a 'brick' when the battery completely discharges and then costs $40,000 to repair."
Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to respond. He could have called Palin a loser who's political career was a brick, but no. Musk is classier than that:
"Sarah Palin calls Tesla a loser. Am deeply wounded," he tweeted. "Btw, Model S warranty does cover 'bricking'."
Well, classy, but not so classy as to neglect an opportunity to get in a Tesla plug. You have to hand it to Musk, the man understands social media marketing.
The comparison between Fisker and Tesla has some merit. Both companies took on a substantial amount of government funding in the early stages of development, and both initially focused on the high-end of the car market with a luxury sports sedan and a roadster, respectively. Their cars certainly spring from a similar gene pool — Tesla had originally wanted Fisker founder Henrik Fisker to design the Model S, but then rejected his initial designs.
But whereas Tesla has been extremely successful in sourcing parts and finding corporate partners, Fisker has been plagued by regulatory delays and difficulty in meeting demand — particularly after the bankruptcy of its primary battery supplier, A123 Systems. It also hasn't managed to capture the popular imagination the way Tesla has — at least partially due to the lack of a charismatic frontman like Musk.
Writing about the trouble with Fisker, the struggling luxury electric car maker which had to slash its workforce last week, she said it joined other 'Obama-backed' losers like the Chevy Volt and Tesla, which she said "turns into a 'brick' when the battery completely discharges and then costs $40,000 to repair."
Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to respond. He could have called Palin a loser who's political career was a brick, but no. Musk is classier than that:
"Sarah Palin calls Tesla a loser. Am deeply wounded," he tweeted. "Btw, Model S warranty does cover 'bricking'."
Well, classy, but not so classy as to neglect an opportunity to get in a Tesla plug. You have to hand it to Musk, the man understands social media marketing.
The comparison between Fisker and Tesla has some merit. Both companies took on a substantial amount of government funding in the early stages of development, and both initially focused on the high-end of the car market with a luxury sports sedan and a roadster, respectively. Their cars certainly spring from a similar gene pool — Tesla had originally wanted Fisker founder Henrik Fisker to design the Model S, but then rejected his initial designs.
But whereas Tesla has been extremely successful in sourcing parts and finding corporate partners, Fisker has been plagued by regulatory delays and difficulty in meeting demand — particularly after the bankruptcy of its primary battery supplier, A123 Systems. It also hasn't managed to capture the popular imagination the way Tesla has — at least partially due to the lack of a charismatic frontman like Musk.