Tesla Motors: Company Car of Green Home Source

 

Tesla: Creating the Green Car of the Future, Today

Green homeowners are concerned about the health of the planet; at least, that’s the assumption. We try to design, build, and live our lives in the most energy-efficient and sustainable way possible. We believe that’s the way we should all live, in order to start creating a cleaner, more livable future for all. While a green home is the perfect place to start living more sustainably, we must confront the reality of our modern society… we live in a mobile world; we rely on automobiles to a great degree to get us to and from work, school, shops, friends, and family.

There are a number of alternatives to our modern car culture, but with a deeply ingrained auto-centric infrastructure, the car isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. We can dream of super clean, efficient mass transit, the gas-powered automobile, driven by hundreds of millions of people a day, continues to pollute the air, pump climate changing gases into the atmosphere, and draw down increasingly harder-to-reach fossil fuels.

One alternative that will challenge the traditional automobile is the emerging electric vehicle market. Driving an electric vehicle uses no gasoline, produces no pollution, and creates much fewer carbon emissions.

Challenging the status quo of the automobile and fossil fuel industries, whose deep pockets and virtually unlimited political power in Washington stand as the greatest roadblocks (pun intended) to meaningful change. The one company standing up to the Powers that Be and forcing the push to electric vehicles is Tesla Motors.

Tesla, founded by PayPal creator Elon Musk, has used the consumer electronics industry as a template to design, build, and market electric vehicles completely outside the Big Three and their system of dealerships.

Tesla: Solving the Chicken or Egg Dilemma

One chief drawback to electric vehicles is their limited range. Though the industry as a whole is in its infancy and their range will surely increase over time, today’s electric vehicles are limited to a range typically under 100 miles. This makes them difficult to market as vehicles for longer trips.

Tesla is fighting this issue on two fronts: first, by doing extensive research and development into battery technology. The result? Their current model, the Tesla S, has a range of up to 300 miles per charge.

The second front is Tesla’s heavy investment in a worldwide network of Supercharger systems. With over 80 Supercharger Stations already in service around the nation, Tesla is aiming for 80% U.S. coverage in 2014, increasing to 98% in 2015. These Supercharger stations, conveniently located near restaurants and shopping, they can provide a 50% charge in just 20 minutes. Free to Tesla owners.

Tesla also offers a battery swap program at their stations, where they will swap out the battery pack completely in just a few minutes for a fee. This quick change is perfect for travelers who are constrained for time.

By creating batteries capable of extended range, and providing a worldwide network of fast, convenient charging stations, Tesla is quickly eliminating the limited range stigma associated with electric vehicles.

The Tesla vehicles themselves? The Tesla S was named the 2014 Consumer Reports Car of the Year; they also recently gave the S Model its highest review rating of any automobile, ever. While current Tesla models are significantly more expensive than similar gas-powered cars, there are a few things to remember. First, Tesla is creating, from the ground up, a brand new automobile sector, from design to manufacturing to marketing. This takes money. Early versions of all new, highly-technological consumer products are almost always expensive, sometimes prohibitively so.
But as these newer industries achieve efficiencies of scale, and the technology evolves, the price drops. Sometimes quickly. Tesla is promising a new vehicle within the next two years that will not only have twice the range of todays’ models, but will cost half as much. Early adopters pay the higher price for new products, which then drop as more and more people begin to use them.

Secondly, and more importantly, is the savings over time of operating an electric vehicle. While the new vehicle will cost more, the daily operating costs will be much less. Think about it: no more gas….no more oil changes… no more emissions tests….. no spark plugs, no oil filters…. very little maintenance other than a quick annual checkup. Just plug the vehicle in at home, let it charge overnight, and it’s ready to go the next morning.

What about the electricity needed to charge the Tesla? Yes, they do require lots of energy to charge. But the power they use is much cleaner than burning oil and gasoline. Even when the power is sourced at a coal power plant, there is less pollution and carbon emitted per mile. And with the tremendous growth in renewable energy around the country, this energy will continue to get cleaner and more efficient.

Tesla vehicles can be fully controlled and monitored from anywhere with a convenient mobile app. Tesla even offers, in participating states, a solar charging option for the home. By using the sun to charge the car (and help power the entire home as well), the electric vehicle becomes an even better eco-friendly option.

Tesla: Your Green' Home on the Go'

Green homeowners walk the walk and talk the talk at home when it comes to low-impact living. While in a perfect world the automobile would be used minimally and replaced with public transport, walking and bicycling, we’re not quite there yet. We’re going to need our automobiles for awhile yet. When you’re on the go, make that ‘go’ as low impact as possible. Electric vehicles are our future, our increasingly very near future, and Tesla is leading the way. Green Home Source doesn’t have company cars, but if (or when) we do, they will be Teslas. Designed in the U.S., manufactured in a state-of-the-art high tech plant in California, they are the future of automobiles. There may be a day soon when the Big Three becomes the Big Four.

To learn more about Tesla Motors, read more about their vehicles and how they work, schedule a test drive or even order one online, visit the Tesla Motors Website.

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