[VLM]

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.

[CPLX]

> 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.

[outworlder]

Well, 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]

AAA 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-tru...

[frakkingcylons]

> 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]

> could be charged via solar panels.

...but would actually be charged via grid power or internal combustion engine generator 99% of the time.

[madamelic]

Not to mention the irony in using a diesel generator to re-charge electric vehicles meant to save the environment.

[FireBeyond]

What could be greener than having your EV filled by a diesel generator?