Elon Musk of SpaceX: The goal is Mars - latimes.com
Apropos of Tesla Motors, you've said in 20 years half the new cars produced will be electric. What, we'll still have to drive cars? We won't move by means of molecular disassembly?
That'd be nice! There may be something cooler than a car in 20 years, but the most likely outcome is that we'll still have cars and they'll be predominantly electric.
Where will that electricity come from?
I think solar will be the largest source [he owns a solar company, SolarCity]. It's not obvious that solar will be a majority of power generation, but I think it'll be a plurality. [The rest will] come from a combination of some nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal. Power generated by burning hydrocarbons we'll use more sparingly, as it should be used, as something that's not going to come back; because it's not. We are being complete wastrels [with fossil fuel]. It's like some heir to a fortune who had nothing to do with creating the fortune and so gives no care to its consumption.
Commercializing space, electric cars — aren't you spread a little thin?
I've been going past the red line on the gauge for a while now. It's honestly not been fun, but I have to continue for a bit longer, because for Tesla in particular, we're at the stage where the company's survival is in question. The market has given us a good evaluation. We have great supporters and great detractors. The detractors have a point, that the last successful car company started in America 90 years ago. DeLorean and Tucker brought cars to market, but they were unable to scale up their production and reach profitability. The next six months will decide whether Tesla will be the first new [successful] car company in a century.