Back to the future with 50s charging “pump”
In Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, USA, Tesla owner and ice-cream parlour drive-in partner, Tony Caciolo, uploaded a photo of his new 50s nostalgia Tesla charger. The combination of old and new immediately become an internet sensation.
Caciolo and his wife run a 50s-style ice-cream parlour called “The Big Scoop”. Tony Caciolo makes the styling and moulding of the exterior objects, which recently included a Tesla charger. The now-famous charger is now part of Tesla’s destination charging network. Apart from the more powerful Tesla-operated “superchargers”, the network informs drivers where they can park and charge their car for a longer visit. In this case, a longer visit is rewarded with the excuse to try one the Caciolo’s 40 home-made flavours.
https://www.facebook.com/theinsidescoop/photos/a.154127548851/10158090849218852/?type=3&theater
Caciolo explained that the exterior styling of the charger is an exact replica of a classic Texaco gas pump. Only here the logos replaced by Tesla logos and the gas pumps replaced with two charging cables. A retro gas station light adds an extra touch. His retro design may be ahead of his time. Around this time last year, Elon Musk twittered:
“Gonna put an old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 7 January 2018
Musk is perhaps inspired by the 50s since it was the golden age of the American car. At this time the Interstate Highway system was born and car ownership more than doubled between 1950 to 1958, giving rise to a whole new set of roadside industries, including MacDonalds offering fast-food to drivers on the go. Caciolo and his wife created the ice-cream parlour because they simply had nowhere locally they could go to take their son for ice-cream after a baseball game. Their entrepreneurial thinking has served them again, this time by adding their parlour to the Tesla charging network.
Musk has not yet made a move on his idea of an old-school drive-in, but it seems Caciolo has already beat him to it when it comes to evoking the spirit of a golden age of American automobiles with the latest in automobile technology.
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