Video: Tesla Shows Off Terminator-Like Snake Charger

Tesla Motors flag (Credit: Tesla Motors)

Back in December of last year, Elon Musk took to Twitter like he so often does, warning everyone that Tesla was working on a robotic “solid metal snake” that would automatically recharge electric vehicles. At the time everyone laughed at the mental picture of such a device, then quickly forget all about it.

Musk said that the technology was “for realz” and we should have believed him. Because Musk always delivers.

We were all warned, and yet we didn’t take this seriously enough. As you can see in the video below, Tesla is getting serious about its snake charger, and we should all be paying attention. One of the biggest reasons is that the technology looks frighteningly similar to the robots from the Terminator movies. The thing looks almost like it’s been animated, but Tesla claims it’s real. Soon, such a device could be charging a Model S near your house, maybe even in your garage. This is proof that we should have just kept clinging to carburetors and manual windows, because technology is only going to lead to our demise.

In all seriousness, the robotic snake charger is still in prototype form, which is probably why its movements are more fluid. Tesla constantly tweaks its cars through over-the-air updates, and no doubt will be doing the same with this device, once it’s ready for consumers. So far there’s no production timeline for it, and even if there were, it would be delayed no less than three times.

With the technology a little ways off, we have all been warned. Lock your doors, buy a robotic mongoose in case your robotic snake goes off the rails and know that the future will make it so you don’t have to plug in your own electric car. Sure, you could get a wireless charging pad, but those are so boring in comparison to the snake.