4 Things About Tesla That Shouldn’t Be Forgotten, but Often Are
With Tesla’s first Model 3’s about to hit the road, and the company coming off of being the most valuable car company in the U.S. for the first time earlier this year, it seems an appropriate time to check in on what ‘Uncle Elon’ is up to.
Throughout the day to day flux of Tesla highs and lows that we experience through the media, it’s easy to lose touch with the groundbreaking nature of what the company is aiming to accomplish and the progress it has already made.
So next time you hear about its stock price falling or a delivery date is postponed, consider keeping these 4 things in mind:
1. Tesla’s Having a Massive Effect on the Car Market
The rise in popularity of Tesla has sped up the velocity of consumer demand for electric cars. Earlier this month, Volvo announced they’ll be going “all electric” by 2019. Ford and VW among other automakers have also made commitments to developing product lines of EV’s (electric vehicles). And an infrastructure commitment from major car companies to install thousands of charging stations throughout Europe is telling.
2. Tesla’s Uniquely Focused on the Machine that Makes the Machine
Consider this statement from Uncle Elon’s master plan, part deux:
“What really matters to accelerate a sustainable future is being able to scale up production volume as quickly as possible. That is why Tesla engineering has transitioned to focus heavily on designing the machine that makes the machine — turning the factory itself into a product.”
With this approach, Tesla projects its production machines will see somewhere between 5X and 10X output by the early 2020's.
3. Tesla’s Posture is Open and Collaborative
While most companies do whatever possible to keep technological advantages secret, all of Tesla’s patents have been open source since 2014. Uncle Elon asserted that pursuing patent lawsuits would only stifle progress towards Tesla’s ultimate goal of sustainable energy and transportion. He’s also stated he believes some companies have taken him up on his offer.
4. Tesla’s Vision is Grander
People want solar without the clunky panels. So Tesla made sexy solar roofs.
They want to charge their devices and power their homes when the sun doesn’t shine. So Tesla made a storage box that also happens to be quite sexy.
They want to use some of that stored power to charge up their EV, and they want that EV to be affordable. So the Model 3 is on its way.
A lot of people like pickup trucks. And our world works in large part due to semi truck transport. So Tesla’s developing those too.
What’s really next-level though is that all of these innovations are being developed with an automated future in mind. One where Teslas perform Uber-like services when owners aren’t using them, generating income to counterbalance or even surpass monthly loan or lease costs.
Straight from the fingertips of the man, the myth, exactly a year ago:
“ So, in short, Master Plan, Part Deux is:
- Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
- Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments
- Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
- Enable your car to make money for you when you aren’t using it”
Touché, Uncle Elon. Touché.
Act on Climate
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