Snoop Dogg Is Now A Tesla Model X Owner

[Arslan Ijaz]

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/04/24/snoop-dogg-now-tesla-model-x-owner/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29

[Arslan Ijaz]

I have always liked this new eco-friendly car manufactured by Tesla. Author has named so many celebrities who have bought Tesla models. It's a great initiative by these influential people to whom most of the other people see as role models. Definitely, it will increase the trend in the general public to take a step ahead and buy these eco-friendly products. But I am afraid that not all the people can buy this. If you look at Tesla prices for any model, they are way out of range of a common person. I am happy that researchers are inventing and coming up with eco-friendly products, but to be actually able to take advantage of these products they have to be in a range of a common person. If most of the people can't afford these products, then they are not fulfilling the purpose of these inventions. I hope Tesla come up with a fair price range for its new models so everyone can afford it. Anyways, Snoop Dogg I am happy for you. Enjoy your new ride with zero emission.

[Chun S]

Automobile firms like Tesla puts in a lot of effort on the development of vehicles operated by cleaner energy. It still has a huge room of improvement should be done. For example, 2017 Tesla Model X, it can only drive roughly 240 – 290 miles on a full charged battery, it is not compatible to the cars operated by gasoline yet. Secondly, although the electric car itself doesn’t produce much emissions, but the power plant that generates the electricity for the car does produce the emission. I think currently electric cars may not help the country combat climate change, and it actually depends on where the electricity the car used to charge the car. To be real green, Tesla should install the car charging stations where the power is generated by green energies.

[Martinez, Alfred S.]

It's great to see these eco friendly cars gaining TRACTION (pun intended), especially among the celebrities - which is basically additional advertising for Tesla. Although, I do not personally follow celebrities, but others that do look up to or idolize celebrities will want to follow suit - so in this respective, it's a positive thing as energy conscious purchases are publicized. However, the downfall, to your point Arslan, is that the current Tesla models out on the street are a bit out of the price range of middle and lower income families. Current models range about $76K-$160K USD. But great news - there is a more affordable model that is expected to go into production sometime this year and will be available to consumers mid-2018. This is the Model 3 and it will have a starting price of $35K USD. So it's very possible we will be seeing a lot more Teslas out on the road.

Chun, you bring up an very interesting point, EXCELLENT, in fact. I have never thought of this with this perspective and it would be very interesting to research. I wonder what the conversations are like in the Tesla boardroom that addresses this issue....

Overall though as the author of the article mentioned, Tesla has been making great strides on Wall Street. Shares have been very popular over the last 3 years. Back in June 2013, stocks were at about $100/share and are now at about $370+/share. Most of us are probably kicking ourselves that we didn't get in on this when Tesla first started out. Makes one think that maybe we should buy in when the next "Tesla" comes and goes public; maybe then we'll be able to afford the top of the line vehicles.

[Arslan Ijaz]

Chun has pointed out an important aspect of this topic. Tesla has definitely decreased the pollution caused by fuel in cars but the way they are generating electricity to charge the cars is causing pollution now. By continuous improvement I believe they can overcome this issue and build up charging stations with solar panels or other renewable energy resources. 

Alfred, $35K is still expensive for some people. I believe Tesla is growing now, they will definitely come up with something cheaper than that and charging stations at more locations than now. I see a problem with driving this car to somewhere far where you will have to find a charging station and manage your miles according to that so that you don't get stuck somewhere in the middle with no fuel. Besides that, it takes hours to charge the battery which is not practical. So I guess still a long way to go for Tesla but they are definitely in a right direction.

[Dobhal, Shivani]

I find this article intriguing and thank you Arslan for picking it out as it has definitely spiked my interest in Tesla cars. It is wise for me to say that I had only heard about Tesla's eco-friendly technological advances through friends/on news channels briefly. It is great that celebrities are coming forward and endorsing Tesla's cars as, like Alfred noted, most people are heavily influenced by the lifestyle choices their favorite celebrity makes. I agree with Chun that Tesla's electric cars can't solely fight climate change and more needs to be done to make sure the electricity used to mass produce these electric cars is green as well. I think a real revolution in using green cars will come about only when countries such as China and India(China has the largest automotive market in the world) contribute in using green technology such as Tesla's. Apparently, there is already a 15 country electric vehicles initiative that covers 90% of car markets across the globe. These countries offer $5-10k tax exemptions and subsidies to electric car buyers which works well to bring down the car MSP and also offer subsidized charging points. Tesla model 3 and GM Chevrolet Bolt are working on bringing down the prices to 30-35k range while providing 200 mile range at the least. Again, mass producing electric cars is not as big of a deal as making charging stations readily available, as most of you have already noted. That's not something that Tesla alone could achieve but other major automotive giants such as GM, Toyota and other have to collaborate on. As a consumer, I would definitely consider buying Tesla's 30-35k models if and when they become available. The other higher end models, I believe are more feasible to the upper strata of the society and that does little to nothing towards the clean energy initiative. Long story short, prices need to be slashed and mileage increased considerably before these cars could find a foothold in the global market. 

Here's an interesting article on a related topic-

https://www.greenbiz.com/article/three-phases-teslas-clean-energy-revolution

[Dobhal, Shivani]

Alfred, I like that you highlighted Tesla's rising influence on the stock market. This trend is somewhat similar to what we saw with Apple a few years ago, don't you think? Facebook too! It's like every time a revolutionary idea is introduced to the world, the stock market goes on a frenzy. We should definitely be on the lookout for newer technologies(especially those that are concerned with using renewable energy and limiting the society's dependence on fossil fuel) as those companies would dominate the world market in the next couple of decades. This process would be slow and will be challenged a lot(by people like Trump!) but is certainly on the horizon. 

[Martinez, Alfred S.]

Shivani, I totally agree that we should definitely be on the lookout for the new "Tesla" or any GREEN technology that would greatly benefit the public as well as the environment. No shame in lining your pockets with some GREEN in a GREEN world - as long as it's ethical, of course.

[Agustin Quintana]

Tesla has been a fast growing company because of its state of the art engineering and its focus on a green sustainable vehicle. Now that they have established their product in the market they need to start pushing to gain market share. One of those ways is to have a great marketing campaign and this is what Tesla is doing with having celebrities sponsor their cars. This deals will help them gain more exposure and they now focus to make a more affordable electric car. Tesla is a very exciting company that is looking to change the car industry,