Initially met with scepticism, Tesla believed in electric propulsion until it became one of the hundred most important brands in the world. The next goal is the creation of a complete sustainable mobility system.
Ten years ago, when Elon Musk, patron of Tesla, presented the American carmaker's first strategic plan, many scoffed. An electric car manufacturer, according to the self-appointed experts of the automotive world, would never achieve success, because sustainable mobility would always remain nothing more than a whim reserved for a handful of radical chic. No prediction could have been more wrong. Today, for the first time in history, the Tesla brand has entered the ranks of the world's top one hundred brands. A ranking that features giants such as Apple, Google, Coca-Cola and Microsoft. The world is changing, much to the dismay of conservatives.
Interbrand, a division of the American communications holding company Omnicom, compiles an annual ranking of the world's one hundred most important brands. A ranking in which brand recognition, public awareness of products — especially among those outside the sector — capacity for innovation, growth prospects, the reach of marketing across different social groups, and appeal to competitors all carry decisive weight. These are the values that have brought Tesla to one hundredth place, not far, to stay within the automotive world, from a long-established name such as Mini. A result worthy of the highest regard, especially considering that, until just a few years ago, the American company's cars and services were viewed as curiosities rather than genuine alternatives to traditional mobility.
Tesla's success is without doubt linked to the American company's ability to produce high-performance electric cars with considerable range, but at the same time it is a litmus test of the strengthening of sustainability as a system. Interest in alternative energy sources grows every day, battery, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models are multiplying, natural gas propulsion — biomethane included — is increasingly attractive; a global concept of eco-compatibility is taking shape. A project that extends from the car to infrastructure, from powering the home grid to heavy transport, from residential climate control to autonomous driving. A reality in the making that, once considered a curiosity, is today a protagonist both in individual lifestyle choices and in the formulation of macroeconomic plans. One need only think, in this regard, of the proposals in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway for a possible ban on conventional vehicles by 2030.
The Tesla "case" is emblematic. Founded in 2003 as a small manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles, the Californian company has progressively established itself and, with its first revenues, gave rise to a less elitist model — the Model 3 saloon — whose success, having so far been pre-ordered "sight unseen" in over 400,000 units, has allowed the American brand's horizons to expand. Alongside the expansion of the car factory — with the debut of a compact SUV and a strictly battery-powered pick-up expected shortly — came the development of systems for storing energy collected by solar panels, the so-called PowerWall, that is to say large batteries for domestic use capable of making every individual a producer of their own energy. And not only that: in 2017 Tesla will present several prototypes of electric lorries and buses, the 100 per cent autonomous driving system and innovative car sharing projects, creating a complete sustainable mobility system.
Tesla's new strategic plan is decidedly ambitious — in the eyes of sceptics, downright unachievable, because Elon Musk is said to inhabit the same "reality distortion field" that was typical of Steve Jobs. The Apple co-founder, one of the most brilliant minds in the history of modern technology, was famously known for conjuring up an idea and asking his team to make it happen, even when it seemed impossible. The approach worked, and Apple became, as the Interbrand ranking confirms, the most important and desirable brand in the world. The same world that Musk now wants to change with sustainability in mind.