Tesla Unveils Snake Charger And The World Shrieks In Unison — You’ve Been Warned [Video]
It’s probably a good thing no one can buy Tesla’s robotic snake charger, because a video of the thing in action is already haunting people’s dreams.
Elon Musk hinted at the slightly disturbing, “kinda wrong” prototype snake charger in December, BBC reported, and the unveiling of the technology this week struck fear in the hearts of many.
In the video, the robot finds its way into the charging port of a Model S, NBC News added, and does so rather well. It’s unclear whether it’s the machine’s autonomous movement, alien/robotic demeanor, or mechanical grace that makes it so unnerving.
Or, perhaps, it bears too much similarity to that spooky water alien in The Abyss, or the chestburster in Alien.
The footage, shared at first on Twitter, starts off innocently enough. The electric car is sitting in a clean garage while a bizarre silver being stands at attention close by.
Then … it moves. Slithering slowly downward as if it’s bowing to some silent master, then eases its way carefully into the charging port. No human being features in the video, so it seems as though viewers are watching a secret interaction between machines that seem just a little too smart for our own good.
No longer is it only in the movies. Watch this and tell me it's not a little creepy… https://t.co/ulXeYTpGpq @TeslaMotors #robots
— Todd Kunz TV (@ToddKunzTV) August 7, 2015
Tesla's robo-snake charger prototype is our new car overlord http://t.co/wXtbPo0zVQ
— Jerry Bolanos (@TepeizcuintleVC) August 7, 2015
I find this equal parts awesome, sexual and disturbing – Tesla reveals robotic snake car charger http://t.co/7EJo7WMIFZ
— Jason Mann (@jasonmann2) August 7, 2015
But, despite the vague heebie jeebie factor, the Tesla snake charger is really cool. It requires no human interaction to work, ABC News pointed out, but charges the vehicle completely on its own.
So far, Tesla isn’t manufacturing it for public use, and the scary display the Internet witnessed Wednesday is just a prototype. Tesla did, however, announce that deliveries of the Model X SUV will begin next month; it’ll produce about 12,000 of the cars.
Tesla apparently has no immediate plans to sell the snake charger to the public though, and has given no hint of a date as to when that may possibly happen.
Though perhaps that’s for the best, because the thought that millions of suburban garages could one day each contain a slithering metal serpent is too horrifying to imagine.
[Photo Courtesy YouTube Screengrab]
