EDITOR’S NOTE
MARK SMYTH: Is Musk a master of misdirection?
Musk manages to achieve his claims, but it all seems a bit far-fetched
Any good illusionist will tell you that the secret to illusion is misdirection. Persuade the audience to look left while the elephant in the room disappears through a trap door on the right. That is exactly what Tesla boss Elon Musk tried to achieve when he revealed not just the expected Tesla Semi electric truck, but the very unexpected new Roadster. On paper both are impressive, with Tesla claiming the truck can achieve a 0-100km/h time of just 6.5 seconds (because Musk thinks that’s important to the truck market), as well as having an aerodynamic efficiency cd rating of just 0.36. That figure is 0.02 better than that of a Bugatti Chiron, Musk told the assembled media, forgetting to point out the vast size of the truck compared to the Bugatti or the massive drag from the trailer. Still, the Teslavangelists went wild. Some members of the media went wild. They went even more crazy when Musk revealed the Roadster, the second generation of the car that started it all for Tesla. With a...
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