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The treat awaiting ABC anchor Charles Gibson during his field trip to California was a test drive of the $109,000 Tesla sports car: "You do not hear any engine noise because there is no engine noise. It is an all-electric sports car--range 240 miles, zero-to-60-mph in under four seconds, faster than a Porsche." The free publicity for Tesla was part of Gibson's futuristic speculation that energy efficiency--autos, solar, wind--will be the next transformational industry to emerge from Silicon Valley. Gibson was given a glimpse of a prototype of Tesla's next model, a $55,000 all-electric sedan, on sale two years from now. CNBC's automobile expert Phil LeBeau poured some cold water on the prospects for new car sales on NBC. He cited the latest statistics from RL Polk that fewer people need to replace their current jalopy with shiny new chrome: in 1999 half the automobiles on the road were at least 8.3 years old; by 2008 a car's median age had grown to 9.4 years.
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