This statement may be a shocker to you, unless you are part of the subset of Americans that fall into this category. Many of you probably know I bought a Tesla Model 3 over a year ago, and I’ve loved every minute with it, even with some very small issues.  Those were fixed really quickly by the customer service center or the mobile rangers. But there is a recent Forbes article with much the same headline as above and they go into a bunch of stats and arguments about how people don’t like to change. That is why no love in the EV space.

Recent Event

Today I want to write about a recent experience with another Tesla owner, not a bad experience, but upon reflection, perhaps an indication of the human condition.

I had recently purchased a glass roof sunshade which further cuts the infrared radiation coming into the cabin on my Model 3 (search for “BougeRV Tesla Model 3 Glass Roof Sunshade” on Amazon). It was easy enough to put in, it simply works, I’ll probably take it down for the winter months (it folds up nicely), so I can look out the glass roof from time to time. Many have written about the roof in this car, a technology milestone on it’s own.  The roof does an amazing job with cutting the radiation, I just wanted to have it cut some more, make it easier for the AC. The company I bought the sunshade from, BougeRV, provided me with a gift, unsolicited. A set of cup holder and center console inserts, but I had already purchased these a while ago. They are removable (for cleaning) and protect the cupholders from crumbs, condensation from glasses, and generally make clean up easier. Like I said, I already had some.

A couple of days later I saw another Telsa Model 3 in a parking lot where I used to work. Maybe you can guess what’s going to happen next. Once I saw he did not have any cup holder inserts of his own, I left a note on one of my old business cards. He called, I drove over, he saw my car, he looked at the inserts and he bought them for a whole $7.00. Wow, like, right?

Knowledge

is power, I know. But what has struck me about both the Forbes article and the reaction of this former co-worker is that people just don’t understand what they have or could have in this technology that has 4 wheels.

Yes, its a bit of a joke, I think other people like the joke, too, about Tesla’s are not cars, they are computers with wheels.

Forget the basic high value of the car itself, what my co-worker did not understand that they are a lot of options in the accessory market that can improve your experience with your Model 3 (or X or S). Many people don’t even know how to operate all of it’s features.

The people in the Forbes article that are not interested in electric cars, they don’t understand how they can get a better car, a safer car, a better experience, for less than they are going to pay whichever Japanese car maker. I’ve even had one person on a road trip that came over to look at my car, tell me they don’t like Tesla cars because they are not an American car. 

It’s really hard to argue with people like this.

When I bought this car, I sought out knowledge about the car, about the technology. I also found people were 3-D printing accessory parts, for security clips, for phone chargers, lots of things. Maybe I am an outlier and the statement should really not be “Americans are not interested in electric cars” but rather “Americans are not interested in knowledge.” — Even if you are plunking down tens of thousands of dollars for an automobile.

And to that point, I don’t know what to say.

P.S. for the “for less” point above, here is some extra reading for your research “https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/22/toyota-corolla-vs-tesla-model-3-5-year-cost-comparison/”

P.P.S. there is a referral program, use this link and you can earn 2,000 miles of free Supercharging with the purchase of a new Tesla car delivered before October 1, 2019, https://ts.la/thomas44545 . I can get some miles too. The referral program changes from time to time, sometimes it goes away for a bit, so it may be different than what’s noted here. There is a referral incentive for solar on your roof as well.