Jim Jewell
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

I do not like how quickly we hang the word genius around the neck of the next business leader, from Bill Gates to Elon Musk and all the others in between. I don’t believe Musk or Jobs stand in the same category as Issac Newton and Albert Einstein. I believe Tesla could have and should have done better by their employees, and the fact that people are standing in line to be a part of Tesla is not an excuse to exploit anyone. I hope Mr. Musk takes all the criticism in this article to heart, much of it is on point. However, I just drove a model 3 Tesla 2,100 miles. I was very skeptical, but the model 3 lives up to all its hype. It will force all car companies to make electric cars just to be relevant. I‘m sure there was a better way to build a more sustainable product. Nissan did just that with the Leaf, other car companies also made small affordable average performance electric cars yet those cars just didn’t matter. Those products didn’t change anything. Tesla ’s hyper performance may have fed Elon’s ego but more importantly that performance and hype forced the auto industry to take notice. The overpriced, hyper performance cars of Tesla are moving the auto industry off of gas already because at no level can a gas car compete with what Tesla built. I think the approach to electric cars that Nissan took with the Leaf, which made economical sustainability sense, simply didn’t put a dent in gas car sells. Tesla building sedans that seat seven and beat supercars in drag races did. His over performance cars are outselling all competitors in every segment he competes in. Tesla’s competitors will fulfill Tesla’s stated mission faster than their own cars because the competitors all have to move to electric to compete. Elon is no saint, and perhaps not a genius … but his little company just accelerated the world off of gas-powered cars …. no other company did that, no other automobile manufacturer is even close and they all had huge head starts. They all manufactured millions of cars before Tesla manufactured one. The model 3 will make all manufacturers move quickly to electric if they want to be around in five years. The catalyst of Tesla making the auto world move in that direction should not be denied. It wasn’t done with the Nissan Leaf or Toyota RAV 4, each are great products but to easy to ignore.

    Jim Jewell

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