Finding a journalist, or anyone, for that matter, who is able to put Tesla into proper context is a very rare thing. The great majority of the coverage of Tesla is a pissing match about whether Elon Musk walks on water or is full of shit. It’s tempting to call it a war of the bulls and bears, but it goes even further than that, as Tesla and Musk have become click bait of epic proportions. Even the most prestigious newspapers and magazines fall for the bait. Why? Because like any article about our dear president, any article about Tesla/Musk is guaranteed to pull eyeballs. Whether something relevant is said is beside the point, as in this highly polarized climate, hardly anyone is interested in the real meat of the matter, just the sizzle.
But there are exceptions, and although I don’t normally blog about articles at other websites, this piece by Alex Roy at thedrive.com about his recently purchased Model 3 is an exception. He gets at the meat of the issue: there hasn’t been a truly innovative and disruptive car like Tesla in a very, very long time. And he uses this famous ad by Cadillac from 1915 to put it in perspective. (Ad text in easy to read form below).
The Penalty of Leadership (1915):
“In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone – if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a -wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big would had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy – but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions – envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains – the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live—lives.”
Here’s Roy’s closing paragraphs immediately following the ad text:
Tesla could put out such a statement, but wouldn’t. Musk isn’t one for literary flourish, and times have changed, but every time Musk tweets, he’s saying the same thing Cadillac did 104 years ago. Screw you. Bring it. Keep talking about me, bitches. All of Musk’s bulls**t, exaggerations and pettiness don’t matter because once you get in a Tesla, there really is nothing else like it. Mine isn’t perfect, and I don’t care. I want what it does, and don’t care about what it doesn’t. I want to live the dream. I want to drive the future. If someone else offered it today, I’d buy that.
Until then, Musk will be forgiven almost anything he does, for better, or for worse. And like a honeybadger, he certainly don’t give s**t. Elon is the leader we deserve, and the one the industry needed. And boy, is Elon paying its penalty every day. Cadillac and everyone else should be so lucky as to pay it, but they forgot about the leadership part, and no volume of “storytelling” and consulting fees can get it back.
Roy’s previous article, on his decision to buy the Tesla, “How I learned To Stop Worrying And Buy A Tesla” is also a highly recommended read and excellent lead-in to this article. My son plays a role in that one.
My sentiments are highly congruent to Roy’s. If I could even vaguely put it to proper use, I’d own one too. As I wrote last December in my comparison of the rise of BMW to Tesla:
I have felt essentially zero excitement over a BMW (or Mercedes) for decades. Meanwhile, The only car I actually lust for is a Model 3. It is the new Ultimate Driving Machine. The only reason I haven’t pulled the trigger is because it simple doesn’t fit into our lives and driving patterns at this time. But I’ve come dangerously close a few times. Maybe a Model Y. In the meantime, there’s absolutely nothing else on the market that ignites my juices. Which explains why I’m driving a 14 year-old shitbox. For now…
Well put. The best machines for this new paradigm are going to be designed from scratch in a totally new workplace, built with totally new methods, despite teething problems. I can’t believe how long other automakers are taking to come around to this. It’s the best start a “fourth” American car company has had in half a century.
(Meanwhile here I am, trying to find a solid example of Paul’s
14-year-old shitbox.”)
Hold out for the manual. There’s a world of difference between the two versions. When I had mine, I could switch from my Porsche 924S into the xB and not be disappointed at all.
Thanks for pointing out the article, I probably would have missed it completely otherwise.
I too would kill to own a Tesla, just for what the car is. There’s nothing else on the road built in the last 8-10 years that turns me on anymore, other than the Fiat 500c Abarth I owned for a couple of years, but sold because it was essentially a four-wheeled motorcycle and I still prefer the two-wheeled versions. And will continue to do so until the doctors say I can’t anymore. Then I go looking for another Abarth.
Unfortunately, fiscal reality says that I only get to spend between $20-25,000.00 on an automobile, and Tesla’s resale is holding up way too well for me to figure on getting one in the next 2-3 years.
Elon Musk is insufferable? Of course he is. If you look at innovation and those who innovate, the vast majority are the kind of people who you can laud or disparage from afar, but attempting to live with one of them on something resembling a 24/7 basis for even a week is something that would drive one to distraction. It seems to be something in the personality necessary to take such risks or to be able to accomplish such innovation.
Nice, quiet, well-mannered individuals become West Coast Under Assistant Promotion Men, or moderately high functionaries on the 13th floor of the GM tower (of course they aren’t going to make the 14th, unless they’re around for a long, long time). They don’t invent game changers.
I’m following with more than a bit of interest the efforts of the legacy firms to follow in Tesla’s footsteps. Jaguar is first out of the gate in the luxury class. Respectable effort, but still only 90% as good as a Tesla and definitely not setting the world on fire. Chevrolet Bolt? It does the job, it has the range, it’s totally and completely mundane, designed to be hidden in between all of Chevrolet’s ICE models. Audi? Dan Neil tested that one in the Wall Street Journal about three Friday’s ago and the verdict was, “send it back, half baked”.
I’m guessing that Porsche will come closer, but they’re still not going to match Tesla. No, no proof, but just a gut feeling. Mainly there because Porsche is too wedded to how they’ve built cars for the past 71 years. And they’ll be unable to come up with something completely different (well, as complete different as you can get when you’re still wedded to four wheels and a steering wheel).
Yes, I want to see the day when the electric car takes over completely (once the technology advances enough that to be possible), and Hemi’s are relegated to museums. Because the electric drivetrain is superior. I got convinced of that 44 years ago driving a Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar around the streets of Erie, PA. I could see the theoretical superiority back then while driving a slightly overblown and badly under-engineered golf cart in traffic. My faith got reinforced four years ago driving a fully charged Chevy Volt. I can only imagine how I’ll feel when I finally get a Tesla.
Elon Musk is insufferable? I dare say many people probably felt Henry Ford was insufferable back in the days of the Model T. Having read “My Life and Work”, there are so many things about the man that seemed so insightful, clear-headed, and yes, even visionary; also others that had me wondering how such a brilliant man could make such a blunder. Polarising.
Nice 54 year old song reference there.
I figure there will be a Tesla 3 in my future. I’ve been driving electrically (’14 Chevy Spark EV with close to 55K miles now) for five years now. Electrics are he future and the future is good.
Nothing else on the market really appeals to me. The Bolt is the most interesting outside of Tesla, the range is just enough, and the styling is blah. I actually went out, checkbook in hand, to get one of the first Bolts on the market, drove nice but it had the worst seats I’d ever had the displeasure of sitting upon.
There are only two makers who really are in to electrics, Tesla and Nissan. Everybody else is just doing it halfway. Sadly, the Leaf is still a city car with its more limited range.
Someday…..
Thank you for passing on this very good read. I too aspire to a Tesla someday, not necessarily for the environmental reasons some folks have, but simply because it is a neat piece of engineering that would make sense for a daily commuter car. Also I’m a bit biased as the small engineering company that I work for has had a hand in building tooling for all 3 models so far. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the Fremont facility, and have a good feel for how it all works, both good and bad. While not exactly a “fanboy”, I do think that the Tesla is a well engineered and built product, and I would definitely be driving one now if my budget would allow. I think that they will be around for quite a while –
A great read (both this and Alex’s article), and I agree completely. It was people like Billy Durant, Henry Ford and their ilk who built new automotive empires. Running them well would eventually (sooner in Durant’s case) require some adult supervision but the guys who ran things well were almost never the guys who came up with the brilliant beginnings that started things rolling.
At some point I expect that Musk will be sidelined (either by his own idea or someone elses). At that point things should start running more smoothly. The innovation, however, will start to taper off and we will again be left waiting on the next big new thing.
FWIW, I am another who hopes Tesla succeeds. The cars fascinate me but do not really fill a slot in my current life. Perhaps one might in the future.
I really can’t see any great insight here, insofar as any can be gleaned from the very ordinary writing. So Tesla make an integrated, reliable, and, for its futurist novelty, very desired product. The CEO is probably a personally unlikeable genius, prone to overstatement, but the product speaks, as it has in perfect verse since ever the Model S was released. Is it really so that this has not been said before?
I have never got the reverence for the load of pompous windbaggery which is that famous Caddy ad. And elevating that advertising copy to the level of serious insight as this article appears to do, then mixing this with some somewhat Delphic utterances about leadership and freedom from the constraints of care doesn’t add anything much to the sum.
Surely Tesla’s blindsiding achievement was not so much in being first, but in all-but perfecting the result from the beginning, which was itself from nowhere. It is no wonder a GM or more fancied names did not see that coming, and so are still flailing about in their responses. But they are much larger outfits, with legacy weights attached, and less patient shareholders. If Tesla survives, it will be curious to see how its present leadership status copes with the slow-moving morass of a truly large-scale business.
Pompous windbaggery sure, but who could write like that nowadays? We’ll never see an ad like that again, because its use of words appeals to the educated elite with the leisure and the determination to read a page of small print.
I am not wanting one of these cars, or any electric car for that matter. I’ve driven a Bolt and was not impressed. I see that cars like these are the future, but I will be dragged kicking and screaming the whole way. I didn’t get a smart phone until many years after they had become common and while I recognize that my iPhone is very useful and I enjoy having it, I also don’t care about it. If it breaks, I will buy another of the same model and use it until I can’t anymore.
Teslas are, to me, rolling smart phones. Right now they are only for those that can afford them, more of a status symbol then anything. They have all the newest bits, flips, flops, and fannies for people to drool over and I suppose that’s fine. I got a smart phone out of necessity for my job and enjoy it’s benefits, no doubt.
People have said I’m backwards in my thinking. I’d be the man to scoff at the car in favor of my horse had I been born one hundred years ago and I’d have to agree.
In the end, I may have to get an electric car as time goes on. I may have no choice for sake of convenience. If I must, I want the most basic model I can find. I will drive it, use it, and generally have no passion for it whatsoever. I’ll keep my project close to my heart. It will stay in the garage while the iCar gets parked outside. I will feel nothing when it hums to life, nothing as I drive it, and nothing when I finally must get rid of it.
“It’s a shame my iCar died, whats the cheapest used model I can find? Guess I’ll use the project car until then…”
I don’t disparage those that own Teslas or any electric car for that matter, I just don’t get it. I feel the same way about my friend that always needs the latest and greatest smartphone, that’s just his thing and I’m glad he enjoys it. I’ll use my beat up model to listen to Gunsmoke while I work on my El Camino. Different strokes for different folks.
I’d love to own a Tesla, but, at 62, my prime earning years are behind me; I’m a teacher and freelance journalist and am paid accordingly. A Model 3 would be absolutely perfect for my daily commute to school 40 miles away; I have a garage ready-made to be nightly charging station. Don’t think I haven’t dreamed of owning one.
I think it’s wonderful to see there are still guys out there who not only can innovate on a massive scale but can withstand the heat that inevitably swirls around their accomplishment (and success?).
Alas, until another Henry Ford comes along to make that innovation available to the masses, the ICEless carriage will remain out of the reach of most consumers — certainly beyond my grasp.
Have a look at the used market for older ones. One idiotic hurdle Tesla has put in front of themselves is parts availability and authorised repair shops. So resale –for damaged Teslas– can be low.
There have been articles and youtube vids about people who have learned to repair them unofficially with parts from other wrecks: I think that buying one of those would have a secondary advantage of having an experienced mechanic available (assuming you make that part of the purchase agreement) to work on one without waiting months for parts.
I loved the BetaMAX also, but it lost out to VHS.
Tesla is the tip of the spear, which tend to get bent in battles.
Once the grid has a better percentage of clean energy, a pure BEV will generate less CO2 than an ICE, currently it’s a long tailpipe to Coal and Natural Gas plants with a tad of clean energy. But that is what investment is all about, I just wish the greenwashing wasn’t taken so seriously.
It’s a great auto design, implementation a little shaky at times. We just shouldnt conflate the product competence with the company incompetence.
Pretty amazing that in the US in 1915, an automaker could run an ad with no pictures, a full page of text, references to Wagner and Bayreuth, and Fulton and Whistler, and expect people would read it and understand. Or perhaps I’m merely curmudgeonly about our current culture, and this made about as much sense to the buying public then, as “The Caddy That Zigs” did 80 years later. Good perspective on Tesla also, though the story may well end with Tesla in the same pile as Cord and Packard.
I think Cadillac was telling the world that Cadillac owners were literate, cultured, educated and I expect that most were just that. They were simply creating snob appeal Seems that it worked too.
In 1915, there was no television, and motion pictures were still a very new “thing” for many people. People still turned to newspapers, magazines and books for entertainment and information.
Relatively few people had even finished high school, let alone went to a college or university. Being literate and well-informed about history and culture – beyond the very basics – was a mark of status. These were the people Cadillac wanted to attract as customers.
Great article, I would love to own an electric car, a couple of months ago I met a gentleman in a Walmart parking lot with a Bolt, he absolutely loved it and said he would never buy another ICE vehicle again. Certainly no gas, oil changes, tune ups would be wonderful. Maybe after I get my current drive paid off I will look at an electric vehicle, but the current problem is a lack of charging infrastructure. Last year I was in Oklahoma City and the motel I stayed at had one charging station. A few more motels are getting them, but overall they seem to be few and far between. Currently, I see electric vehicles as great for local driving but not for any type of cross country driving.
A great message on leadership and market disruption. Aspire to be a leader and be prepared for the attention, and detractors it will attract from all corners. However never be discouraged from achieving your goal and one can achieve greatness. Sounds great, Musk may be the best living example of making mistakes along the way.
Even with government rebates, a Tesla is beyond my price range. They sure look and sound nice going down the highway though.
The linked article is great – and links through to a comparison review between a Tesla 3 and a Morgan 3 wheeler he also did, that’s a hilarious read
If anything, Tesla suffers from too much iPhone thinking. There are the infamous parts supply issues (TFLcar’s example is up to $12k and 3 months out of service for a sub-5 mph bumper bop) and I can’t get over the dashboard vents passing up the simple, elegant, industry-standard solution of putting a finger nub on each vent in favor of running them through the touchscreen, adding layer upon layer of complexity (servo motors and software to run them) in the name of minimalist looks.
Some time ago they forced out an OTA software update to open the glovebox door in a crash. It’s controlled through the touchscreen too, for no good practical customer-value-adding reason, and owners were unable to get their paperwork if it broke in the accident.
An effort was made, and it’s by far the best effort and the most successful automotive startup in almost a century, but Tesla needs to open its’ mind to industry-standard thinking and take in what parts of it will benefit themselves and their customers without adopting it wholesale.
I do not feel very strongly about Tesla or any EV to the extent it is not used _as a tool in a political game_, one which ultimate goal is trying to get wealth redistribution through the back door. Looking at current EV technology in the most dispassioned way I can gather, I have to say it is not yet ready for TRUE everyday use. It’s time will come for sure, but this should happen without the need for confiscatory methods.