I hope I'm not being naive about this (as corporations often have a way of making you regret your words), but this is the way - find a need, make it happen, get it done. I am really glad Tesla et al are doing this. They are having a direct impact and they may even reap some nice rewards themselves down the line, even if that wasn't the biggest driver.

I wonder if they could look into outcome-based contracting [1] for these projects, should the discussion of paying ever arise. Seems like it might be a good fit.

[1] http://www.enme.umd.edu/ESCML/Papers/Sandborn%20Contract%20E...