On Thursday night the man that has probably become America’s most-loved Chief Executive Officer appeared on the Colbert Report on Comedy Central. The manager of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and visionary leading other tech concerns asked his host what he would like to see become a part of the future. Stephen Colbert says he wants wireless electricity.
Elon Musk responded simply “we’ll do it.” Colbert is heading to The Late Show on CBS next year, meaning that if Musk doesn’t keep his promise there’s likely a lot of rebuke for in him the future of public television.
Elon Musk makes promises on Colbert
This isn’t the first time that Elon Musk has made an out-there promise on the Colbert Report. Back in 2011 the inventor told Colbert that he was going to build an electric car that people would actually want, and one that they’d be able to afford. The Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S isn’t exactly an everyman car, but it’s a step in the right direction. The Tesla Model 3, which is due to be unveiled next year, is exactly the car that Musk was talking about.
Given that Elon Musk is about to follow through on a promise he previously made to Stephen Colbert, it’s not completely outlandish that the executive will follow through on the comedian’s hopes to see wireless electricity across America. People like to stay away from wires, but their phones need to be attached to the wall every night. Elon Musk may be able to change that, but he’ll have to hurry.
Wireless electricity already exists
The kind of wireless electricity that Colbert is talking about won’t replace the poles outside your house or the electricity cables running under the ground, but it may be able to replace the cable passing between your television and the electricity outlet or your phone and the wall. There are a lot of companies working on technology just like that right now, and it could become a reality in the years ahead.
One of the most famous feats of the Nicola Tesla, who gave his name to Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was his ability to control wireless electricity. Reports of the distance he was able to carry electrical power with no visible wire, if taken at face value, have never been replicated. Tesla spent a good deal of his life working on solutions to the wiring problem more than a century ago, but much of his research has been lost today.
