Today…
Tesla’s upcoming Model 3 has created a buzz reminiscent of the original iPhone in 2007. And we all know how many ripples that little gizmo created across industries. With 400,000 pre-orders of the Model 3 and counting, Tesla has sparked a high-rpm revolution that lit a fire under the butts of German automakers to step up their electric vehicle (EV) game. Germany’s government put the pedal to the metal by starting to give EV buyers 4000 EUR rebates. Let’s take a look at the impact these new EVs will have…
Tomorrow…
By placing 400,000 EVs on the road, Tesla is avoiding 1.6 million metric tons of CO2 that gas-fueled cars would produce. With the help of its Gigafactory, Tesla will begin delivering Model 3s in late 2017.
An average driver uses 470 gallons of gas per year at around $3.00 a pop. That means 400,000 Model 3s will rob gas stations of $564 million in yearly revenue. With pre-orders alone! Those half a billion dollars will migrate to the greener pastures of renewable energy to power lithium-ion batteries used in Teslas.
Homeowners will simply plug in their EVs at night and wake up with a ride in the garage ready to go. But as millennials continue moving into cities, where will garage-less cars recharge? They’re going to need other options.
About 12,000 electric charging stations are currently sprawled across the U.S., over 1,300 of those were built by Tesla. Tesla’s Superchargers replenish 170 miles worth of battery in about 30 minutes. That’s a much different experience than the 3 minute stop to get gas in which time a person might pick up a pack of gum.
Charging stations will not only become the new gas stations, they’ll also become anchors for all sorts of surrounding brick and mortar services that people can visit while charging. Restaurants, gyms, grocery stores, and coffee shops will all cater to people charging their cars. The ability for city folk to charge their EVs will be a make or break factor to visit these facilities.
So what kind of energy sources power these charging stations? The US energy grid is powered by about 13% renewable sources. That needs to be significantly upped to truly create a clean future. Then cars will run on sunlight.
Distant but not that distant future…
Here’s where things get interesting…
As gas fueled cars go the way of the horse buggy, the biggest cities will shed their pudgy layers of smog. Life will once again occur in clear 4K visibility as intended. And because EVs are virtually silent and emit no pollution, houses adjacent to main roads and freeways will no longer be avoided like the plague for their proximity to noisy cars and foul air quality known to cause health problems.
Rolling down your window in traffic will actually be a breath of fresh air, and the introduction of Tesla’s Model 3 is the catalyst to make that happen. Goodbye, carbon monoxide dutch oven of doom; hello clean and quiet streets of tomorrow.
whiskeyfrisky 