Tesla Hasn't Solved Range Anxiety, Says Former Chevy Volt Executive And Fisker CEO

Tesla Motors Inc TSLA recently held a press conference to tell the world about its plan to solve range anxiety.

The announcements were praised by some analysts, but former General Motors Company GM executive Tony Posawatz thinks Tesla missed the mark.

"Range anxiety is a term I actually coined in late 2006," Posawatz, who launched the Chevy Volt and led GM's efforts in electrification, told Benzinga. "[It] is dealt with by customers because they have a lack of range to do what they need to do to accommodate their everyday life and the spontaneous things that happen."

Posawatz said that what customers want is either "more range" or the ability to charge the vehicle more frequently and at a faster rate. Ideally, electric cars would be similar to those that run on gasoline -- charge stations would be everywhere, and it wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to refuel the vehicle.

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Not Quite There Yet

Unfortunately, Posawatz said that the Tesla announcement "didn't really provide either of those."

"Although I commend Tesla with what they're doing with the continual upgrade and increase of the faster-charging Supercharger infrastructure," he said. "But the software announcement didn't solve either of those. It just helps someone manage the range anxiety."

Posawatz thinks that, in itself, is a "good technological advancement" because it enhances and enables connected car features. For example, it will allow users to retrieve data from the automobile to improve the vehicle's use.

"Both a plus and a minus, but not fundamentally a significant resolution to range anxiety with electric vehicles," Posawatz added.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.