Elon Musk has stated that he wishes to be generous to his critics. The Tesla CEO’s frustration is hard to contain after years of facing an army of doubters in the rest of the car industry and on Wall Street.
It’s been nearly a decade since his company’s Model S demonstrated that electric cars could compete with the finest in terms of aesthetics and performance, and it’s been four years since the Model 3 brought the technology to a wider market. During that time, Musk has not only had to nearly single-handedly establish an electric vehicle market while avoiding bankruptcy, but he has also had to combat short sellers on Wall Street and start spats with regulators.
This year has brought some vindication, with corporations ranging from Ford to Volkswagen to Mercedes-Benz committing decisively to electric vehicles in the future. On Tuesday, Toyota became the latest to announce a $35 billion investment in the production of electric vehicles.
“For a long time, the rest of the car industry was basically calling Tesla and me foolish and frauds,” Musk says in an interview with the Financial Times. “They said electric cars wouldn’t work because the range and performance couldn’t be achieved.” And even if you did, no one would want to buy them.”
Musk believes that environmental campaigners influenced carmakers to develop more environmentally friendly technology. He says, however, that there is one major reason they are finally ready to go electric: “They didn’t react until we started taking market share from them in a substantial way.”
He’s not the only one who thinks this way. Former GM vice chairman and Chrysler president Bob Lutz, who once doubted Tesla’s chances of survival, now describes Musk’s impact on the car industry as “unbelievable – nothing short of extraordinary.” “This is why Mercedes-Benz and BMW are so terrified of him,” Lutz adds, referring to the company’s incursions into Europe’s luxury automobile markets.
Thank you!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2021
This year, Elon Musk has been everywhere — and not just in ways that distinguish him as one of the most influential, albeit divisive, business personalities in recent memory.
