Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Electric vehicles have some good qualities. They are still, however, not practical as the mass consumer market shows. Darn. Don’t you hate it when facts mug a good idea?

Sitting here in a coffee shop, typing blogs, sipping coffee and looking out the picture window at a clear sky, I note a person parking their Tesla in front of the coffee shop. Wow. What a cool car. It makes no noise; it burns no gasoline, and its a golf cart that goes 70 miles an hour for several hundred miles. Oh, and it costs a lot of money.

Hate to toss in that last sentence, but there we have it.

I see many Tesla’s in my wanderings about my neighborhoods. I live in Reston, Virginia. This is a planned community about 20 miles from Washington, D.C. High-paying jobs abound here. We live in $600,000 (or is it $700,000—I lose track) plastic sided houses with tiny bedrooms. Just the property taxes on my plastic house cost me more than a mortgage in many parts of the country.

All that is to say, “Rich folks live here.” It is no coincidence that this area has more Tesla vehicles running about than everywhere in the country save one or two other places inhabited by rich folks.

A Tesla is a neat toy for rich folks. A Tesla is a luxury vehicle. If you want one and can afford it, buy one. Good on you.

Still, a Tesla is a neat toy for rich folks. Most Americans are not “rich” (whatever rich is). A Vehicle is part of a mass-market market in America. The electric vehicle fits into a little niche of that market. There has always been a little luxury market in the vehicle market.

Well, given the luxury vehicles are electric, one day costs will come down and vehicles driven by everyday plain old folks will be electric as well. We shall see. Until then, a Tesla is a neat toy for rich folks.