When Elon Musk offered to help Boeing (BA -0.76%) with the 787's high-profile battery problem, it looked like a publicity stunt. Now it looks as if Musk may have been right all along in his assessment.
In a late January interview with the car site Edmunds.com, Musk called the 787's battery pack "inherently unsafe" for how it packs lithium-ion cells close enough together to create a "domino effect" that could lead to just the sort of electrical fire that forced a Japan Air Lines 787 to make an emergency landing last month.
Now The Wall Street Journal reports that Boeing is working on a new battery design that would include more space between cells. Point, Musk. And possibly, point to Tesla Motors (TSLA 1.85%), which already licenses its electric powertrain technology to Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.
Might Tesla's battery designs be next to get picked up elsewhere? Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova addresses this question and more in the following video. Please watch, and then be sure to leave a comment to let us know what you think.
