Tesla's latest venture? A drive-in restaurant -- maybe even with carhops
Zlati Meyer, USA TODAY Published 4:06 p.m. ET March 15, 2018 | Updated 5:05 p.m. ET March 15, 2018
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A proposed Tesla supercharger station includes a drive-in restaurant. USA
(Photo: Tesla)
Having created an electric-car "Supercharger" network around the country, Tesla is creating a filling station of a different sort.
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be known as a visionary for dreaming of rockets to Mars or tunneling under cities, his latest idea is downright retro.
Tesla is planning to open a drive-in-style restaurant -- a concept straight out of the sock-hop 1950s -- next to a charging station in Santa Monica, Calif. The city confirms the proposal on its website where Tesla has filed for the application.
It's no surprise to Musk watchers. In January, the billionaire entrepreneur tweeted that he was going to “put an old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA."
Gonna put an old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2018
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based automaker declined to provide more details, including why it chose the drive-in concept, anticipated opening date, choice of location, whether the eatery will be open to non-Tesla owners or even what will be on the menu.
Musk isn't the only person in his family with an interest in food. His brother Kimbal co-founded the multi-state Kitchen Restaurant Group in 2004 and Square Roots, an urban farming incubator based with Brooklyn, N.Y. with plans to open sites in cities across the U.S. Kimbal Musk sits on Tesla's board of directors.
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The site of Tesla's proposed Santa Monica Supercharger station plus drive-in is a corner lot, previously home to a Volvo dealership. Santa Monica is a progressive, eco-oriented community with high-income residents who were early to embrace hybrid and electric cars. It's about 10 miles north of Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne.
Tesla currently has 1,130 Supercharger stations with 8,496 Superchargers. The one in Kettleman City, Calif. -- about 50 miles south of Fresno -- is one of the largest and features a customer lounge that includes vending machines.
Jim Heimann, author of Car Hops and Curb Service: A History of American Drive-In Restaurants 1920-1960, said the drive-in's appeal historically was the convenience of not having to get out of your car. But time-savers -- today known as life hacks -- are valued nowadays, too.
"It’s a novelty and probably will very popular. You can sit with your iPhone, while you wait for you food," he said. "From my point of view, it’d be great to see an old-fashioned drive-in."
