Today, Tesla is one of the most valuable automotive brands in the world. In fact, this company, established in 2003, has beaten established marques like Toyota and Mercedes Benz for the top spot in 2022.
Because of this, many people love Tesla. But the brand’s valuation isn’t the only reason people love the company. Check out these other reasons why.
1. Tesla Changed the EV Car Industry
EVs have been around for over a hundred years before Tesla was even founded. In fact, the Department of Energy says that electric cars reached their first heyday at the turn of the 20th century, with about a third of all cars on the road running on electricity.
However, the birth of the Ford Model T and the discovery of oil in Texas killed off the nascent electric car industry. It wasn’t until 2012, when Tesla Motors started producing the Model S, that electric cars gained mainstream popularity again.
There were other, more affordable electric cars like the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf. However, because of its massive range, the Tesla Model 3 beat these cheaper EVs in market share.
Because of Tesla’s popularity, many other car makers soon followed in its footsteps and invested in their own electric car programs. Today, you’ll find several electric models from mainstream brands that, just a decade ago, didn’t have any EVs in their portfolio.
2. Tesla Cars Look Like Gas-Powered Cars
In the decades before the release of the Tesla Roadster, electric cars look vastly different from their gasoline-powered brethren. The General Motors EV1 had a weird front fascia that screamed I’m an electric car from miles away. Even the Mitsubishi i-MiEV looked nothing like the average automobile many users buy.
This is because many carmakers build their vehicles on specially made platforms. But when Tesla made the Roadster, based on the Lotus Elise, you wouldn’t know the difference if you parked it beside a gasoline-powered Lotus. Even the later Tesla models look similar to gas-powered cars—only car and tech enthusiasts would know the difference.
Because of this, it made buying electric cars more palatable to more people. After all, nobody wants to drive a weird-looking car.
3. Tesla’s Features Appeal to the Internet Generation
One of the things that Tesla did right was to sell cars at the right time. While the Roadster launched in 2008, their most mainstream offering, the Model 3, came out in 2017. Incidentally, 2017 is also when many 90s kids are 25 to 35—the prime age to buy their first brand-new car.
Because this generation grew up with the birth of the internet, many are already keen on trying out new technologies. So, features like Sentry Mode and Self-Driving are a hit among its buyers.
4. The Tesla Model S’s Power Appeal to Motor Sports Enthusiasts
While you may think that Tesla would primarily attract tech enthusiasts and would be shunned by car lovers, you’ll probably be surprised that this isn’t true. The Tesla Model S is one of the most powerful production cars you can buy today, with its 1,020 horsepower rating.
That means the Model S Plaid can go from 0 to 60 in less than two seconds, hit the quarter mile in under ten seconds, and reach a top speed of 200 miles per hour. And you still get a fantastic range of 396 miles with all the power.
Best of all, you get all that at around $127,000. While it’s not exactly affordable, you’ll be hard-pressed to find another vehicle that comes close to this performance at that price point. Other options, like the Porsche Taycan, can’t beat the Model S Plaid in terms of performance. Or, if you want a car that delivers that kind of power, you’ll have to step into supercar territory and spend millions of dollars.
5. The Supercharger Network
One of the things that stopped the widespread adoption of EVs was the lack of a charging network. Aside from the long time it takes to fill an EV battery compared to getting a full tank of gas, there’s also a limited number of charging stations you can do so quickly.
However, Tesla knew this was one of the things hampering the purchase decision of many buyers, so they invested in the Supercharger Network. As of 2022, Tesla has around 1,200 Supercharger stations all over the US, ensuring that Tesla owners can travel from coast to coast without worrying about running out of charge in between.
This is massive compared to Electrify America, another major charging network in the US, which only has 670 stations. While they’re planning to grow this to 1,700 by 2025, they’ll have stiff competition from the Supercharger Network as Tesla opens up its charging stations to other non-Tesla EVs.
6. Elon Musk
Love him or hate him, Elon Musk’s vision is the one that made it possible for Tesla to be the company that it is today. Although it was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Musk bet big on it, dropping $6.5 million into the company’s coffers in February 2004 during its series A funding.
Although Elon Musk has wacky moments, like tweeting about buying Manchester United or Coca-Cola, his contribution to science and engineering cannot be discounted. In fact, Time even named him Person of the Year in 2021.
7. Tesla Stands for the Future of Mobility and More
Although Tesla is primarily known for making electric cars mainstream, it doesn’t stop there. It has other innovations linked to vehicle and battery technologies. For example, Tesla is hard at work improving its self-driving technology, hoping to be the first car company to introduce full self-driving capabilities.
Besides that, Tesla is also working on innovations in battery and other technologies, like the Power Wall and Solar Roof, to help reduce our dependence on non-renewable energy.
Do You Love Tesla?
There’s no such thing as a perfect company, and you can say that Tesla and Elon Musk has made some missteps. But even so, they’ve made advancements in technology that can arguably make our world a better place.
So while not everyone may love Tesla, it’s understandable that there may be more than a few who do. And even if you don’t feel anything about it, you can still say it has made changes that benefit our greater good.
