This week the automotive industry witnessed an eternal moment which could shake up the basics of this elephantine industry forever.
This week the automotive industry witnessed an eternal moment which could shake up the basics of this elephantine industry forever. There has never been a moment in the automotive market where customers have cued up outside the dealerships for products never seen before. Everything changed on the 31 stof March 2016.
Tesla Model 3
What transpired across the globe on 31 stof March 2016 could place the genius of Elon Musk could be mentioned in the same breath as Dr. Albert Einstein changed the world of physics with his ‘Theory of Relativity’, as Steve Jobs changed the world of personal computing with Apple Inc. Elon Musk is the founder of Tesla Motors who showcased their most affordable car, Tesla Model 3 to the world on that day, and this car could single-handedly change the way the world perceives the car.
As of the latest update, while penning this article, Musk has confirmed that the company has received 253,000 orders across the globe for this electric car in less than 60 hours. That is an eye-popping number, to say the least. Hell, what’s baffling is that even before the car was shown to the public, there were already 118,000 orders. Now that is what you call ‘trust in the genius of a man’.
Talking about Tesla Model 3, this is the most affordable car at $35,000 a pop for the company which was started in 2003 with a single aim to commercialize electric vehicles. Model 3 has the gorgeous design which is synonymous with Tesla with hints of Porsche Panamera(Nothing to complain about here). It can seat 5 adults ‘comfortably’ as stressed out by Musk at the unveiling and go about 350 kilometres on a single charge. The interior features clean design lines and for the first time sees a landscape styled 15-inch screen rather than a 17-inch portrait capacitive touchscreen seen on all models launched by Tesla. The car can reach 0-96 kmph in under 60 seconds with faster variants to be offered closer to the actual deliveries beginning in late 2017, which Musk is fairly confident about. It has got a large storage space, both at the front (benefit of not having an engine) and at the rear which according to the company could hold a full-size surf board which measures 7 feet.
Elon Musk
The cars when compared to their petrol powered enemies, nothing seems exceptional at first. There are cars that go faster, seat more people, can take more luggage than Model 3 but at what cost is the question. Tesla Model 3 seems to be the perfect sweet spot for everything that a normal customer wants from his/her car. Model 3 looks beautiful, yes; is economical, of course; goes fast, absolutely. Until now affordable electric cars were seen as drab commuters mostly driven by oldies and tree-huggers. And therein lies the secret. Musk made electric cars cool!!
Tesla Model S
Elon and his team of wizards made this change with their vision and engineering; made owning an electric car look cool. And this did not happen overnight but over a period of 10 years where the genius had outlined the future of Tesla Motors in a blog post. They made the Tesla Roadster, the first of a kind electric sportscar which could deliver performance on par with the petrol powered ones. The hype about the company was building up. Then came the Model S. A sexy electric sedan which could seat 5, at times 7 with child seats in the boot with performance and range ever improving, but all this came at a cost; $70,000 for the basic variants. Add to it the car could take off like a missile with its ‘Insane’ mode which made even the seasoned motoring journalists gasp for breath with its acceleration. Everyone fell in love with it, but couldn’t afford it. Then came the Model X SUV with its falcon doors and ‘Ludicrous’ mode. Tesla announced the Auto Pilot feature for the cars; hell the updates were over the air, similar to the OS update we receive on our phones. After the update, the cars started driving themselves, well almost. But this was pure genius and I still can’t fathom the fact that something of this sort could have happened with cars. With electronics, yeah fine.. but cars!!! Come on.. you gotta be kidding me!! Musk made you fall in love with electric cars gradually.
Tesla Model X
All this resulted in hundreds of people waiting in lines outside Tesla stores way before the bookings began to reserve their Model 3 which was again a never seen before thing in the auto universe. The orders kept pouring in and beat even the wildest expectations of everyone keeping a track of the Tesla story. For a company that has sold about 50,000 cars in around 10 years, it is going to be tough to deliver on 250,000 (and counting) in next 2-3 years. It could see a few hiccups on the way to achieving the impossible but Tesla Motors with its Model 3 is well and truly on the way to make electric cars mainstream in the near future driving Elon Musk into history books.