Tesla CEO touts solar-charged electric cars

e-muskTesla Motors CEO Elon Musk recently addressed the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas.

Not surprisingly, he had a lot to say about the renewable energy + EV synergy, and, in particular solar-charged driving. In fact, Musk – as are we – is a big fan of EV + PV (of course, he’s a big player at SolarCity, so there could be some economic self-interest at play on both the EV and PV side of things for Elon).

But cynicism aside – and we’re actually not cynical, though some might be, here are a few gems from Musk’s talk, which was very supportive of renewable energy:

  • Musk on the need for a more sustainable world –> “We must have sustainable energy in consumption and production or we will face massive economic collapse. That’s a problem we know we must solve one way or another.”
  • Musk on the energy potential of solar –>“I feel strongly that solar power will be the single largest source of sustainable energy in terms of power productions that humans consume. But the earth is almost entirely solar powered already. So we’re really talking about taking a little portion of that energy converting it to electricity for use in human economic activity.”
  • Musk on PV + EV + battery storage –> “You can put solar panels at point of use. We need to pair that with energy storage in order to have 24 hour a day power.”
  • Musk on wanting to leave “the environmental argument behind” –>“What Tesla is trying to do is create an EV that is better than a gasoline car. Leaving aside electricity is far cheaper than gas and it’s good for the environment, if we just make it a better product then you don’t have to make the environmental argument and get a much broader set of people willing to buy the car.”

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Okay, the last quote is a little irritating to us at SolarChargedDriving.Com, as it implies that somehow environmentalists are a drag on the EV movement, America, and the world in general – as if the earth, which, along with the sun, is the source of all life, including human life, is just a sideshow to capitalist economic growth.

However, the other quotes are good stuff — though we have to wonder what, at core, Elon’s primary impetus is: Money, or doing the right thing. To be fair, he seems to believe it isn’t an either/or situation. And, if we’re lucky, he might be right.

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