Positives and Negatives of The Creation of Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors is an American automotive and energy storage company that designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars. Tesla is changing the way that people as well as other car manufacturing companies see the future of transportation. In a world with such high demand for alternatives to fossil fuel emissions, Tesla discovered an opportunity, and took advantage of it. The company makes fully run electric luxury sports cars. There are great positive externalities that come with the creation of Tesla, however there are also some negatives. Where are these cars being made? What is going to happen to the batteries when the car is disposed of? Is the consumption of electric energy really that clean? Or are the fossil fuel emissions being displaced to the electricity producers? What kind of infrastructure is going to be needed when society has a high capacity of electric cars that need to be charged?

The Neo-liberal paradigm is the worldview that suggests society utilizes globalization and technology to progress our economy as well as society. This paradigm thrives off of capitalism, as it is the driving force to progress and globalization. It is also capitalism, as discussed in my other paper, which creates large disparity between the rich and the poor, the developed and undeveloped nations. I argued that the Neo-Liberal paradigm needs to be forgotten and a new system designed. People need to change the way we think in systems, and create a grass-root movement of sustainability in personal lives. This way, we will be able to implement a system from the bottom-up. Tesla, however, is proving my idea wrong. Tesla, through innovation and technology, has created demand through capitalism for environmentally friendly cars (I will argue if the product is actually environmentally friendly/sustainable later). At this point, the capitalistic mental model has created incentive for many people to want their product. The most amazing thing is that Tesla allocates around $0 towards ads. They rely on consumer trust and popularity through awards and recognition. The notion that the Neo-Liberal paradigm is destructive might be a little too extreme. The current paradigm is slowly sparking a movement and could be the beginning to a capitalistic system that actually provides benefits back to the people and environment. Granted, we have allowed climate change to get to a dangerous level, but now that technology is being concentrated into creating sustainable and environmentally friendly products, it could paint a pretty picture of a sustainable future.

Technology will be the biggest player in advancing human capabilities towards sustainability. Although we may not need to change the entire system, technology will still be needed in order to adjust the current path we are on. Fossil fuel emissions are undoubtedly causing climate change. Without any adjustment, we will face an existential crisis. The technology that Tesla has created and implemented could be the start of a sustainable technology. Technology can create a new system once applied in society and gradually changing goals towards sustainability. Although motives behind the movement will vary (capitalism will be the driver, not sustainable goals) sustainability will be a positive externality from it. It does not matter why or how we achieve sustainability, it just matters that we do.

What do we need to control in order to achieve sustainability: the economy or society? Originally, I had believed that societal control and change would influence how people go about their lives, changing the economy with it. However, with Tesla creating a demand for their product, I see the economy being the influencer of society and the environment. People tend to want a product because it is good looking, a good product, or even because it is trendy. Some people may want a Tesla because of the idea of sustainability and they want to do their fair share in cutting emissions and climate change. More likely than not, most Tesla owners wanted the car simply because it is a symbol of wealth. It is capitalism that drives these trends, not sustainable goals or motives. Again, as long as sustainability is achieved, the motives are irrelevant. Society will follow economic trends, meaning that the economy holds a key value in creating a sustainable world.

Is Tesla the be-all end-all solution to sustainability? Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, believes that his technology will create a world of sustainable transportation. This could very well be true, however there are issues that need to be confronted first. The largest concern I have with Tesla being a sustainable solution is the large amount of electricity used to fuel the car. The energy industry still mostly relies on natural gas and coal fueled power plants; both of these being extremely high contributors of emissions effecting climate change. With the increase usage of Tesla’s product comes a displacement of natural gas emissions from cars to power plants. There are no major studies (that I could find) that proved that electric consumption for the Tesla lowers emission footprints for owners compared to a gas-fueled car owner. As technology progresses, and renewable energy is more efficient and popularly used, this will seize to be an issue. Perhaps this causes an even bigger reason to push for renewable energy sources being implemented in our country. However, at the moment, Tesla cannot be a reliable tool towards sustainability due to its’ large electric consumption. A quick note that was mentioned above, there could also be a large issue with the electric car industry as a whole because of the disposal of batteries. These batteries contain chemicals that are extremely harmful to the environment, and down the road (no pun intended) there could be a large repercussion with pollution.

The other issue that I find troubling is that Tesla’s are only owned by a very, very micro fraction of our country. Not only are there around 125,000 cars in the world, but also many average citizens cannot afford to purchase the car. The Model S and X are well over $100,000. The brand new Model 3 is ranging in the $30,000 range, meaning that hopefully, soon enough, the average car owner will be able to afford the car. Price needs to come further down in order for implementation on a large-scale to occur. Otherwise, sustainability is impossible.

Finally, society has a major issue with the Bystander effect. The Bystander effect, essentially, is the phenomena when individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. This tends to be because they think other people will do what they should have done. At first, the idea of the Bystander effect and Tesla seems like a stretch. However, when people see that others are cutting into reversing climate change by driving a Tesla and attempting to live sustainable lives, they feel that they can slack a bit, because the person living sustainably will cover them too. Also, there may be relation to the tragedy of the commons theory, that people will take advantage of shared resources in a rational, self-interested way. If they see that some people are living sustainably, they may live anti-sustainably because they feel that they can take a little from the sustainably living person. This issue is why, I personally, believe that sustainability is further away than we think. Although the system may not need to change entirely, people need to think differently and stop acting solely in self-interest (obviously this is very impractical). Once self-interest is out of the equation and society is on the same page, we may be able to step forward in creating a sustainable society. Is Tesla Motors a major stepping-stone to achieving sustainability? Absolutely. Are they the be-all end-all solution? Not even close. We need to continue the innovation and progress that Tesla has showed we can achieve and create better technology to help construct a sustainable future.