The Why, How and What of the Tesla Model 3
Yesterday was the announcement of the Tesla Model 3, with a keynote given by co-Founder and CEO Elon Musk. While he is not an amazing speaker*, his keynotes are still among those I watch and get inspired by. Like, a lot.
Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” is a TED talk coming back to my mind every time I listen to or write a story. So, let’s look at the Model 3 unveil with the “Why > How > What” framework
The audience knows very well what the event is about. While Apple sends cryptic invitations like “Let us loop you in”, the March 31st event from Tesla was officially to unveil the Model 3:
And the event itself started with the Chief Executive Designer announcing “We are here tonight to talk about Model 3” and Elon Musk first words being:
“Welcome everyone to the Model 3 unveil.”
No surprise there. But what’s interesting is that 1 minute and 30 seconds in the keynote, Elon goes back to the story of Tesla and its mission:
“Why are we doing this?”
“Why are we making electric cars?”
“Why does it matter?”
WHY
Accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy and transport
With around 10% of CO2 emissions from road transport, with growth to up to 50% of emissions by 2050, improving transport has a very significant impact on the future.
“It’s very important for the future of the world”
Elon backs it up with CO2 concentration, rising temperatures and health issues. Should one not be convinced by global warming, Elon reminds that “if a car emits toxic gas, it’s bad for your health”. Simple.
HOW
Break the mould that electric cars are slow, ugly, low range and bad performance
I have never built a car, but I will take anyone’s word that it is more complex to build than a software or even small hardware. So not only does Tesla need to prove there is demand for electric cars, but they also need to learn to produce dozens of thousands of hardware objects as complex as cars, reliably (no one wants their car to go on fire for no reason!).
Before reaching the mass with Model 3, Tesla learnt by starting with the early adopters:
Low volume with high price: Roadster. 500 units a year
Mid volume with less-high price: Model S and Model X
Doing this and achieving enough sales volume, Tesla even inspired other car companies to start electric car programs. Elon mentions that General Motors and Nissan’s electric car programs started post-roadster.
WHAT
The affordable car, with $35,000 Model S
With the quality of the Model S and volume scaled to around 50,000 cars a year, Tesla is now ready to bring a car to mass market… That’s when the What come in, the Model 3.
It continues the concepts started with the Roadster:
- Fast: 0–60 mph in 6 seconds
Not an expert, but seems faster that other petrol cars, such as the Audi A4 which takes 6 to 12 seconds
As Elon said “At Tesla, we don’t do slow cars” - Safe: 5-star in all ratings
- Long range: 215 miles on one charge
(Much higher than BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen e-golf, Mercedes B-Class, Fiat 500e and other electric cars which range at around 80–100 miles) - Comfortable: Fits 5 adults
Electric cars are definitively not slow, low range and bad performance anymore. Ugly is out as a descriptive word too, just look at it for yourself.
Yes, Elon’s Model 3 unveiling speech, a story prepared for 10 years, started with Why.
A breakdown:
Watch the unveiling yourself:
Always good to watch Simon Sinek, so here it is:
Some perspectives
With 232,000 orders within hours, the Model 3 reaches numbers way above comparable cars.
With 232,000 orders less than 24h after launch, the Model 3 reaches 40% of the number of orders made for Apple iPhone 4 during its first 24 hours. Yeah, the Tesla brand is strong!
*Compared to Steve Jobs, and even Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg who became amazing speakers over the past few years. Elon’s delivery is not as perfect that other high level keynote speakers, as if his talks were not rehearsed.
