After reading about the latest UN report on global warming, I was inspired to write this blog piece...
Digital Toaster: EVERYONE Who Can Afford a Tesla Should Be Driving One
Even among my own circle of friends, I know people who could make the switch if they felt compelled to do so. When the Model S was conceived, Tesla knew that it had to be first-and-foremost a great car. Few people would spend this kind of money for a step down from their current luxury vehicle. But with the release of the D variant and the simultaneous release of the UN report on global warming, it feels as if the game has clicked up a notch. Tesla and the Tesla community need to do everything possible to promote the Model S as "the new normal" — not an exotic spaceship.
Please excuse the stereotyping, but in my experience people of means are more adverse to change. Old habits die hard at the country club. These folks need to be convinced that going electric will not change them into "weirdos" in the eyes of their friends. The privileged have to move beyond the inconvenience of global warming, to taking a proactive role. They are in the best position to make a meaningful change right now by driving a Model S, installing a solar system, and converting home HVAC to heat pump technology.
Buyers in this category are likely to have at least one other car in the garage, a gasoline powered one, so adding a Tesla is not necessarily a complete changeover. But as many Model S owners have found, that other car rarely gets driven once you get accustomed to a Tesla.
-----------------------------
ADDENDUM
I think it's important to remember that a Model S is more than simply an electric car; it's a rolling announcement about the arrival of electric transportation. Sure, there may only be about 60,000 Model S on the road — hardly enough to have a measurable effect on global CO2 — but the effect these cars have on the rest of the car buying public is huge. The Model S has already redrawn the image of the electric car, changing it from a curiosity to an object of lust. Tesla is updating America's love affair with the automobile. The payoff for the environment will come later, when consumers have abundant choices of electric cars. But in the meantime, the more Model S vehicles that appear on the road, the better. We need to feed that lust to the point where public demand finally forces major car makers to build EVs that are worthy replacements of existing automobiles.
Digital Toaster: EVERYONE Who Can Afford a Tesla Should Be Driving One
Even among my own circle of friends, I know people who could make the switch if they felt compelled to do so. When the Model S was conceived, Tesla knew that it had to be first-and-foremost a great car. Few people would spend this kind of money for a step down from their current luxury vehicle. But with the release of the D variant and the simultaneous release of the UN report on global warming, it feels as if the game has clicked up a notch. Tesla and the Tesla community need to do everything possible to promote the Model S as "the new normal" — not an exotic spaceship.
Please excuse the stereotyping, but in my experience people of means are more adverse to change. Old habits die hard at the country club. These folks need to be convinced that going electric will not change them into "weirdos" in the eyes of their friends. The privileged have to move beyond the inconvenience of global warming, to taking a proactive role. They are in the best position to make a meaningful change right now by driving a Model S, installing a solar system, and converting home HVAC to heat pump technology.
Buyers in this category are likely to have at least one other car in the garage, a gasoline powered one, so adding a Tesla is not necessarily a complete changeover. But as many Model S owners have found, that other car rarely gets driven once you get accustomed to a Tesla.
-----------------------------
ADDENDUM
I think it's important to remember that a Model S is more than simply an electric car; it's a rolling announcement about the arrival of electric transportation. Sure, there may only be about 60,000 Model S on the road — hardly enough to have a measurable effect on global CO2 — but the effect these cars have on the rest of the car buying public is huge. The Model S has already redrawn the image of the electric car, changing it from a curiosity to an object of lust. Tesla is updating America's love affair with the automobile. The payoff for the environment will come later, when consumers have abundant choices of electric cars. But in the meantime, the more Model S vehicles that appear on the road, the better. We need to feed that lust to the point where public demand finally forces major car makers to build EVs that are worthy replacements of existing automobiles.
Last edited: