In 1995, a young immigrant (from South Africa via Canada) turned his back on Stanford University’s PhD program after being enrolled for just two days. Without fanfare, he stepped onto the world’s stage with a vision of changing the world and humanity.
In the 22 years since that fateful decision to forego a PhD in favor of pursuing his entrepreneurial aspirations, Elon Musk has changed the world. At he helm of Tesla, he has introduced the world to safer, high performance, and emission-free automobiles, lithium-ion storage batteries for homes, and solar panels that look like roofing shingles or tiles. He has disrupted the automobile world unlike anyone since Henry Ford introduced the Model T more the a hundred years ago.
In the process, his products have also brought us a new level of preparedness. Imagine: Tesla solar shingles on your roof sending electrons to your Tesla Powerwall, which in turn powers your house, and “fill up” your Tesla car. In times of natural disasters you are free from the downed transmission lines of the electric grid and the ruptured gasoline pipelines that deliver fuel from far away refineries.
A pipe dream? No.
Expensive? Yes and No.
It depends on your circumstances now, and with prices continuing to fall, your circumstances in the future. Tesla’s vision is to bring affordable products to the mass market and they alone are thinking in terms of economies of scale as a means to accomplish that. Their battery Giga factory in Nevada, when completed, will be the largest in the world, and their electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant in California is on target to produce 500,000 EVs annually – more than any other car company on the planet. They are changing the world
Setting disasters aside, A Tesla energy system is still a good idea. With it, rising electric and gasoline prices, or availability shortages – such as the oil embargo of the early 1970s – are no longer a concern. It’s all about being prepared for a future without fossil fuels.
Tesla’s exceptional standards for safety, quality, performance, and style, along with their total commitment to 100% electric drive, has put them in a class all by themselves. Their customer loyalty is the envy of the automotive world and they have built a fan base like no other company.
Years ago, the Packard car company had the advertising slogan: “Ask the man who owns one.” Good advice, so let’s hear from few folks who own a Tesla. Easy enough, as the company’s website includes quite a few owners’ stories.
Ryan Ross wrote on March 16, 2017:
“Today you can drive a car that runs on sunlight and doesn’t pollute the streets that our own children play on. Today you can buy a car that has those fantastic vertical opening doors. Today you can sit in a car that can drive the highway for you. Tomorrow you may be driven from door to door. Tomorrow you may be driving six hundred and fifty feet above the surface of the earth. Tomorrow you may be driving on Martian soil. And that’s really important. That isn’t talked about enough. Life has to be about more than just solving problems. Life should be fun and inspiring. Life should get you up early in the morning and keep you up late at night. Life should be about building the future we all want to live in.”
“That’s what owning a Tesla is all about. For all the talk of mind-blowing technology, jaw-dropping zero to sixty miles an hour times, and zero emissions motoring, Tesla is really about being part of a community of people who believe in, and who are willing to take steps towards building a brighter, cleaner, more inspiring future.”
Ryan lives in the UK, is a two-time Tesla owner, and operates an independent electric vehicle dealership.
Brian Gilmore wrote on November 10, 2016:
“We love that through our Model S and Powerwall, we are connected to something huge that is happening all over the world. Not only are we helping to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, we are part of the world’s largest power plant powered by the Sun and enabled by Tesla. Thank you,
Tesla. Thank you, Elon.”
“People often ask me the question of when Powerwall will ‘payback’ or pay for itself. Funnily enough, no one ever asks that about a sofa, a carpet or a piece of clothing. For me, Powerwall has already paid us back by knowing that we are effectively off-grid. It’s priceless knowing that our house runs on 98% sunlight / stored sunlight, generated right here, that our business operates on zero-carbon electricity and that our cars run on clean energy with zero tailpipe emissions.”
“We are living a simple, inspiring, luxurious life – and we are net CO2 ‘taker-outers.’ We continue to be MINUS approximately 6 tonnes of CO2 EVERY YEAR (this year we were MINUS 5.596t co2.). Landfill waste still tiny 9.45kg per person, per year. Water usage – 50.08 litres per person/ day, and we still get 65+% of our food within 50 miles.”
Brian is a self proclaimed human being; transformational coach; net CO2 ‘taker-outer’; home educator; husband; father; blood donor (54 times); and making a difference to families.
For more info about Brian: http://mermozltd.co.uk/
And one who wished to remain anonymous wrote on July 13, 2017 after driving 50,000 miles in two years:
“Owning a Tesla is so much more than owning a car.
Throughout history, there has been hundreds upon hundreds of different automobile models. Some are fast, some are luxurious, some are versatile and some are rugged, but very few are considered significant – machines that truly advance human transport. The Tesla Model S is undoubtedly
a significant automobile – the first zero emissions, zero compromise vehicle leading the “charge” in clean sustainable transport. I’m proud to be a Tesla owner and earlyadopting pioneer of this amazing platform and the mission that Tesla believes in” –
You can read many more stories here:https://www.tesla.com/customer-stories/
We at the Green Living Journal are big fans of Tesla, and in the interest of disclosure, we do not own any of their stock, or any of their products. We do believe that their mission is aligned with ours, and that they will achieve their goal of bringing affordable products to the mass market.
