Ivo Hummelink- In my previous column I described what I thought a hands-on sustainable engineer should look like. In this column I’ll give an example of one..
One of the most sustainable manufacturers in the Netherlands is situated approximately 10 km from my house. Since 2012 Tesla Motors has set up his assembly plant near the city of Tilburg and very often I drive by gaping at the electrical sports-cars that are lined up in front of this factory.
Probably everybody now knows what kind of sports-cars Tesla makes, you see them a lot on the Dutch roads. But only few people know the story behind the successes of Tesla Motors:
It all starts with the CEO Elon Musk, who leads this company in a charismatic way comparable with for instance Steve Jobs or Richard Branson. Tusk, the former owner of PayPal, started Tesla Motors 10 years ago after investing large amounts of his own money in this project with the goal not to gain more money, but to work on a better and more sustainable world. Or as he he put it hisself: ‘to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bring compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible’ (Musk, The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me), 2006).
In my opinion Musk can be seen as a real hands-on sustainable engineer, converting words into actions. I will give so examples of these actions:
Tesla Motors is building a worldwide grid of fast charging fuel-stations to enable electrical cars to refuel. The lack of available charging facilities could be seen as one of the ‘reverse salients’ (Hughes, 1983) of the large scale diffusion of electrical cars. Of course Musk invests in these facilities to boost his own sales of sports-cars, but what is very striking is that he also makes these facilities available and compatible for other car brands, allowing competitors to free-ride on his investments.
A second example of an action in which Musk shows that he is not (only) focussing on making profits but is aiming at a higher goal of ‘accelerating sustainable transport’, is the release of the most important patents of his company in 2014. In his blog ‘All Our Patent Are Belong To You’ (Musk, 2014) he states that every (future) car builder is free to use Tesla’s most valuable knowledge assets to build on the transport system of the future. In the very competitive automotive market this action is very uncommon (but highly appreciated).
The last example of his contribution towards a better world are his plans to build a new battery factory in US Nevada. This plant with its nickname Gigafactory 1 (The economist.com, 2014) is the largest battery factory in the world. In fact, it will even have a larger capacity then all other battery factories in the world together. Musk knows that batteries are inextricably attached to a more efficient use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar energy, so by investing in better storage techniques he directly contributes to a society that depends less on fossil fuel used for their energy-production.
To me Musk is the living example of a real hands-on sustainable engineer, who shows that working on a better world can be combined with having a sound business case. If you want to know his secret? read his blog on http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/secret-tesla-motors-master-plan-just-between-you-and-me .
I hope more CEO’s will follow his example.
References:
Hughes. (1983). Networks of power: Electrification of the western society 1880-1930.
The economist.com. (2014, June). Opgehaald van Assault on batteries: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21604174-better-power-packs-will-open-road-electric-vehicles-assault-batteries
Musk. (2006, Aug 2). The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me). Opgehaald van http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/secret-tesla-motors-master-plan-just-between-you-and-me
Musk. (2014). Tesla Motors. Opgehaald van All patents are beloning to you: http://www.teslamotors.com/nl_NL/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you