Elon Musk Tweets Offer to Fix Australia's Energy Crisis in 100 Days

[bananas]

Source: EcoWatch

Tesla boss and prolific tweeter Elon Musk has made an audacious bet to solve South Australia's energy woes by building a 100-megawatt battery storage farm. If the system is not operational in 100 days, the AUD$33 million (USD$25 million) technology will be provided for free.

It all started on Thursday when Atlassian CEO and Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes tweeted an article to Musk that cited a similar offer from Lyndon Rive, who heads Tesla's battery division.

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Cannon-Brookes then tweeted to Musk asking him if he could really make this happen if the funds were available and the politics were sorted out. Incredibly, Musk didn't just cement the offer, he wagered that Tesla could do it in less than 100 days or else the whole installation would be given free of charge.

"That serious enough for you?" Musk added.

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Read more: http://www.ecowatch.com/elon-musk-australia-2309117728.html

[tenorly]

1. Somewhere in Houston,

some Awl Bidness lardass is on the phone, sending professional saboteurs down to Australia.

I trust Australian authorities are aware of this, and will provide this Musk project all the necessary security.

[ffr]

2. No doubt.

We need to fight with our dollars every single purchase. Shape policy with our dollar votes.

[SpankMe]

3. I have mixed feelings about Elon

On the one hand, his forward-moving, can-do attitude about just about everything is forcing staid industries to modernize, become more efficient and to develop new technology at a faster pace. He's providing audacious vision and is not afraid to fail. He learns from every failure and comes back strong. He says he's going to do amazing things that "experts" say can't be done - and then he pulls them off.

But...

This frenetic pace of his and his companies' progress is costing his labor force dearly. I know many people who work in his factories and - with Spacex in particular - he makes his salaried employees work up to 70 hour weeks with no overtime pay, has tantrums and fires people on a whim (sort of Trump-like), and has kept unions out of all his operations. Plus, his basic salaries are a little below industry averages for the type of work being performed.

He does offer his employees stock incentives. So, if Tesla/Spacex/battery businesses and what not take off in a big way, the employees will make out really well. But, that's a big if. He's not turning a lot of profit yet, and he's been in business for years.

[Kablooie]

4. Sounds kind of Jobsian to me.

Walt Disney was similar and probably many other legendary entrepreneurs.

It's not easy working for these driven geniuses but the pain may pay off with long term benefits for future generations.