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"His companies have made it possible to travel around Earth without consuming fossil fuels, going into space, or harnessing solar power." Really? You can drive

"His companies have made it possible to travel around Earth without consuming fossil fuels, going into space, or harnessing solar power." Really? You can drive a Tesla around the world? Or did Elon build a plane that I missed? Starship point to point will never happen, at least not in the next 50 years. Starship to Mars, maybe. He also didn't invent the solar panel, he did bail out a failed business by using Tesla to aquire it which is currently dealing with the court and upset investors.

toomuchtodo 5y ago
I will keep this comment in mind as I drive to Boca Chica in my Model S to see Starship launch for the first time, just as I took my kids to see Falcon Heavy (and have my kids on video watching both boosters land side by side at the Cape). Complaints about his moral character aside (which are numerous!), Tesla vehicles and the Supercharger network [1] gave governments enough confidence to begin combustion vehicle bans [2] (forcing legacy automakers to electrify), Tesla stationary storage bolsters renewables deployments and thermal generation retirement (through cannibalizing the last holdout of thermal revenue, ancillary services [3]), and SpaceX has dramatically reduced the cost to lift to orbit [4]. I'll hold off on cheerleading for StarLink (disclosure: customer) until the constellation is fully operational. You don't change the world being a chill dude. [5] [1] https://supercharge.info/map https://supercharge.info/map [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_fossil_fuel_vehicles#Places_with_planned_fossil-fuel_vehicle_bans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_fossil_fuel_vehic... [3] https://www.energy-storage.news/news/undeniable-success-south-australias-129mwh-tesla-battery https://www.energy-storage.news/news/undeniable-success-sout... [4] https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/air-force-budget-reveals-how-much-spacex-undercuts-launch-prices/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/air-force-budget-rev... [5] https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/9/22426973/elon-musk-snl-monologue-saturday-night-live https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/9/22426973/elon-musk-snl-mon... (The Tesla and SpaceX CEO joked that people sometimes don’t know what to expect from him. “I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars on a rocket ship,” Musk said. “Did you think I was going to be a chill, normal dude?”)
- cogman10 5y ago
  Yup, There's a lot to dislike about musk. However, it's hard to argue that he didn't significantly change the landscape for motor vehicles. I highly doubt we'd have the current level of BEV investment without tesla. Before their vehicles hit the road, the Nissan Leaf was what everyone thought a BEV was. Slow, no range, with batteries that didn't last long at all.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

I will keep this comment in mind as I drive to Boca Chica in my Model S to see Starship launch for the first time, just as I took my kids to see Falcon Heavy (and have my kids on video watching both boosters land side by side at the Cape). Complaints about his moral character aside (which are numerous!), Tesla vehicles and the Supercharger network [1] gave governments enough confidence to begin combustion vehicle bans [2] (forcing legacy automakers to electrify), Tesla stationary storage bolsters renewables deployments and thermal generation retirement (through cannibalizing the last holdout of thermal revenue, ancillary services [3]), and SpaceX has dramatically reduced the cost to lift to orbit [4]. I'll hold off on cheerleading for StarLink (disclosure: customer) until the constellation is fully operational. You don't change the world being a chill dude. [5] [1] https://supercharge.info/map https://supercharge.info/map [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_fossil_fuel_vehicles#Places_with_planned_fossil-fuel_vehicle_bans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_fossil_fuel_vehic... [3] https://www.energy-storage.news/news/undeniable-success-south-australias-129mwh-tesla-battery https://www.energy-storage.news/news/undeniable-success-sout... [4] https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/air-force-budget-reveals-how-much-spacex-undercuts-launch-prices/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/air-force-budget-rev... [5] https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/9/22426973/elon-musk-snl-monologue-saturday-night-live https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/9/22426973/elon-musk-snl-mon... (The Tesla and SpaceX CEO joked that people sometimes don’t know what to expect from him. “I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars on a rocket ship,” Musk said. “Did you think I was going to be a chill, normal dude?”)

cogman10 5y ago
Yup, There's a lot to dislike about musk. However, it's hard to argue that he didn't significantly change the landscape for motor vehicles. I highly doubt we'd have the current level of BEV investment without tesla. Before their vehicles hit the road, the Nissan Leaf was what everyone thought a BEV was. Slow, no range, with batteries that didn't last long at all.