It’s classic Elon Musk: a tantalizing hint of a nifty (and picturesque) new feature straight out of a sci-fi novel.

The Prophet of Palo Alto tweeted on New Year’s Eve: “We are actually working on a charger that automatically moves out from the wall & connects like a solid metal snake. For realz. This can be used with all existing Model S cars, not just future ones.”

The media exploded with images of Spiderman’s Doctor Octopus evil robot arms, the Terminator movie’s robotic snakes that hunt down the last of the humans, and other sinister techno-creations. Surely Elon’s not thinking about hooking up any artificial intelligence to these things?

Musk first mentioned the automatic charging idea in October at Tesla’s Dual Motor and Autopilot unveiling (around 9:26 in the video below).

Such a system could be an alternative to current wireless charging systems, which require a pad to be installed on the bottom of a vehicle (this might not work too well with Model S, which rides low to the ground and has a removable battery on the bottom).

There’s no word yet on when this sinister (oops, we mean handy) device will be available.

Source: Elon Musk
Doctor Octopus Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures