Erratum

I have to follow up and correct myself after astute reader Chris pointed out an obvious and comical error in my last post. After which I figured I had probably heard the original recording wrong. Finally last night, in a different show, they mentioned it again, shedding light on my erroneous reference.




Indeed Nikola Tesla died in 1943, several decades before the first design of the AMC Pacer. What I had misheard was the make and model used in his electricar car experiment. He used the 1930's Pierce Arrow luxury car.



What's really interesting is that Tesla was developing the technology to harvest wireless radiant energy over a hundred years ago, technology that could have rid us of our reliance on fossil fuel. Considering factors like the greenhouse effect and wars over oil, I ponder how the last century could have been different if his primary financier, J. P. Morgan, had continued to finance Tesla's endeavours instead of pulling the plug (no pun intended) because there was no way to meter and therefore charge for the power consumed.