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What is it about Teslas that makes buyers become rabid fans? We go to a dealership in the US to find out
Two events that were widely reported in news media earlier this month put Tesla as a unique electric vehicle manufacturer in perspective. Both of them offer insight into how big Tesla’s impact has been despite its relatively small real world footprint; and both reaffirm that Tesla’s cars attempt to be much more than just transportation.
One such news item was that of a Texas-based engineering student who proposed to his girlfriend in a Tesla Model 3. He used the sketch pad Easter egg in a rental Model 3 to pop the question and his fiancé (now) said ‘yes’ while she was behind the wheel of the Tesla. Both are students and can’t even afford a Tesla yet, but are both huge fans of Tesla cars and of Elon Musk, the California-based company’s maverick Chief Executive and an avid tech evangelist.
The other bit of news was that of Musk himself admitting that Tesla has only now attained ‘real car company’ status after the weekly production run of the Model 3 touched 5,000 units in June this year. The announcement by the Tesla CEO of reaching a much delayed target, originally due to be achieved in December last year, was in turn mocked by Ford Motor Company’s Steven Armstrong who tweeted saying that 7,000 units (combined weekly total for Tesla) is what Ford produces in four hours!
But Tesla’s appeal hasn’t been dampened by its limited production runs or by the fact that the company doesn’t have a long history in the automobile industry. On the contrary, its futuristic lifestyle positioning and nifty features in its cars that tug at buyers’ heartstrings have managed to make it aspirational even for those who would otherwise be considering European luxury cars. Elon Musk’s genius is his ability to weave a bit of magic into every Tesla Model and enable them to get into the lives of owners in ways other than just offering personal mobility.
Look Ma, no hands
The bit of magic most talked about in Teslas is, of course, the autopilot function and the so-called self-driving ability. I’m still firmly of the opinion that...