‘Easier, Better, Simpler’: Why This Habitat X-er’s Next Ride Will Be a Tesla
How one energy-efficiency sales executive plans to cover his territory in 2019 — without ever setting foot in a gas station again
Ed Matos is going electric.
The former Habitat X Fellow is in good company. Even after a raft of cancellations, over 450,000 people still held reservations for a Tesla Model 3, the vaunted automaker’s long-awaited mass-market sedan, at the end of the first quarter of 2018.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has focused the company on fulfilling orders for the vehicle, heralded as a milestone in the future of sustainable transport, as fast as humanly — and robotically — possible.
“What Elon’s been able to do is incredible. When you start to hear some of the numbers, how they’ve rolled this thing out is pretty incredible,” Matos said. “It was almost word-of-mouth between other Tesla owners.”
That word spread to Matos from his boss at Brightcore Energy, former New York Ranger and Stanley Cup Champion Mike Richter, who owns a Tesla Model S sedan. Brightcore specializes in LED lighting conversions for commercial properties.
“One interesting thing about Tesla is there’s this community. They all talk about charging and batteries, and there’s this aspect of planning out the charging (stops),” Matos said.
Three states, including California, New Jersey, and Matos’ current home state of New York, recently announced investments totaling $1.3 billion in EV infrastructure over the next several years. Much of that funding will support rapid charging in public locations along major interstate travel corridors, at airports, shopping centers and in residential areas. The expansion could ease concerns over driving range — over a third of potential EV owners in a recent nationwide survey cited so-called range anxiety as a factor in their reluctance to ditch internal-combustion technology — and help remake the American travel and commuting landscape.
For Matos, who expects to take delivery of his Model 3 in January 2019, that build-out can’t come soon enough. He sees a coming shift in the fabric of cities as enterprising property owners install charging stations in commercial and community centers to lure new customers. But mostly, he’s just excited to lay his hands on the slick new set of wheels that will take him into that future.
“I would be happy never setting foot in a gas station again,” he said. “The hope is that — and maybe (they) will become cleaner and more user-friendly than gas stations — if they start getting put in all these business places, people should be able to charge their car while they’re working, or staying at a hotel. … It’s all about simplicity right? If people can start making the connection, it’s easier, better, simpler.”
Ed Matos is registered for the 2018 Summer National Conference, where he’ll co-moderate a session on emerging professionals in energy efficiency.
