Tesla — More Than An Auto Company

October 28th, 2018 by Alex Voigt

Apple renamed itself and Tesla renamed itself. You may say, “So what?!” Let’s dive into why this really is important to you. To prepare, expect the unexpected.

This is about Tesla, but not about motors, autos, or vehicles, and I promise it won’t be boring.

A name is an identity, description, and value. You choose one for your kids, your wife, your husband, your car, and your company. You choose one with care and after a deep thought process. You don’t pick a name lightly and you know there is a good reason why you select exactly this one.

The name follows you through your life and you want it to be a good selection for the rest of your life. You want it to be perfect. You want it to fit the purpose.

Companies that change a lot of time do should change their name.

A name is darn important. It determines what you achieve and how you do it, and it can even make you fail. A name is a mission, a vision, and omission. It helps you to win, fail, or retreat.

In February 2017, Elon Musk renamed one of his companies from Tesla Motors into Tesla. That is boring news that many didn’t see as worth reporting. It has largely been overlooked, disregarded, ignored, and forgotten — a boring footnote buried under much more exciting, attractive, and controversial Tesla stories.

I believe and will make the case in this article that to rename Tesla Motors into Tesla was indeed one of the largest pieces of news of all, as it was the logical consequence of a profound, comprehensive, and complex thought process about what Tesla really is about and will be in the future.

I believe that Tesla is an enterprise that is vastly misunderstood in what it does, what it produces and delivers to consumers. This is also part of the reason why I believe cofounder and CEO Elon Musk is still misunderstood by practically everybody.

When Steve Jobs invented the iPhone, most people did not comprehend that it is a device not mainly intended to be used for phone calls. Its main purpose was something else. It just happened to be also able to make phone calls. And it is doing that in a beautiful way. Think about this for a second — what have you used and will you use your smartphone for in the future?

You have likely surfed the internet, taken pictures, sent messages, bought stuff, paid for other things, sent emails, played games, downloaded apps, recorded videos, enjoyed movies, reviewed business files, stored energy, charged another device, received advice how to travel somewhere, talked to it, brought light into darkness, updated the software, uploaded data, and maybe you even made a call.

Steve Jobs never intended the iPhone to be a simple replacement for your cell phone. It just happened to be a device that could also be used to make phone calls. And it is doing that in a beautiful way. But that is almost a side effect of the more important mission to connect you with your loved ones, society, and the world. It is a device to please you, to create unexpected beautiful emotions, and to make you a part of something larger than you.

It is a supercomputer and almost an artificially intelligent extension of your brain, only limited by bandwidth from making you a person with superpowers. More safe, more reliable, more capable, more everything. A new level.

Neuralink, one of Elon Musk’s companies, is trying to enlarge the still poor data rate between your brain and your smartphone to help humanity to improve and keep artificial intelligence (AI) under control. It partly already is and will soon be smarter and more intelligent than what humans could be otherwise. The main challenge here is our limited interface data rate called senses, which don’t yet connect well to hardware. A solution could to bypass the slow senses and connect directly with data processing, called nerves and brain. Spooky, isn’t it?!

When Elon Musk and his team first rolled out a Tesla Model S, most people did not comprehend that it is a device that is not mainly intended to drive. Its main purpose is something else. It just happened to be also able to drive. And it is doing that in a beautiful way. Think about this for a second — for what have you used and will you use your EV in the future?

You have likely surfed the internet, taken pictures, sent messages, bought stuff, paid for other things, sent emails, played games, downloaded apps, recorded videos, enjoyed movies, reviewed business files, stored energy, charged another device, received advice how to travel somewhere, talked to it, brought light into darkness, updated the software, uploaded data, and maybe you even made a call.

Elon Musk never intended the EV to be a simple replacement for your car. It just happened to be a device that also could be used to drive you. But that is almost a side effect of the more important mission to connect you with your loved ones, society, and the world. It is a device to please you, to create unexpected beautiful emotions, and to make you a part of something larger than you.

It is a supercomputer and almost an artificially intelligent extension of your brain, only limited by bandwidth from making you a person with superpowers. More safe, more reliable, more capable, more everything. A new level.

The only real difference between the Steve Jobs device and the Elon Musk device is that one moves you physically, the other only virtually. Both move us and our emotions, both are experience devices designed to enlarge our ability to experience. It is indeed that simple.

If you believe this article sounds like a broken record, then you are not wrong. The similarities between Apple and Tesla are obvious and mind-boggling. You can exchange the name Apple with Tesla and the content is still completely true.

Apple Computers was for good reason renamed to Apple. Tesla Motors was for good reason renamed to Tesla. Apple realized it was not a computer enterprise any more but much more than that. Tesla realized it was not a Motor company any more but much more than that.

Both companies defined and created a new market. They generated a need we did not know we had until we experienced it the first time. Using a smartphone the first time changes everything. Using a Tesla the first time changes everything.

Once you have experienced that change, you will never go back to your cell phone or gasoline/diesel car.

I started this writing about a name change and ended it talking about a you change.

Images by Tesla, Kim Støvring (some rights reserved) and Jose Pontes









Appreciate CleanTechnica’s originality? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica member, supporter, or ambassador — or a patron on Patreon.

Sign up for our free daily newsletter or weekly newsletter to never miss a story.

Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest Cleantech Talk Episode