Can going Green be fun?

The information below is from OUTSIDE magazine, November 2006 issue.

Mr. Clean – Elton Musk has the savvy and the cash to invest big. His latest venture: bringing earth-friendly power – and a race-ready, zero-emissions sports car – to the people.

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"People may want to live greener lives – they’ll give lip service to driving less and carpooling more – but unless transportation solutions are easy and attractive, change is hard to embrace."

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“But to be an effective environmentalist, you also have to be a good businessman. You have to be pro-human and give people a car they’ll actually want to drive.”

This past June, Musk and Eberhard unveiled the Tesla Roadster, a sexy two-seater sports car powered by lithium-ion batteries, the same kind that run your laptop.

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The result is a car with a 250-mile range (compared with the EV1’s 90 miles), a top speed of 130 and a zero-to-60 acceleration of roughly four seconds. “What we’ve done is combine the moral high ground of the Prius with the performance of a Ferrari,” Musk says. “You no longer have to compromise to be an environmentalist.”

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Of course the Telstar is outrageously expensive with a price tag of $100,000, but there are plans to make less expensive sedan models.

I think Musk is absolutely correct in saying going green has to be easy and attractive. Humans, being humans, don’t want to sacrifice and compromise. The future of environmentalism might well be in making going green exciting, attractive and fun.

all but solar power is available from one of Musk's newest companies, SolarCity.

"For $6500, SolarCity will install a small solar-panel system on a Tesla driver's residential rooftop. "It closes the loop" says Musk. "It makes the car fully eco-friendly."

imagine some buyers might not have the space. Maybe they need to top the teslas with photovoltaics, at least get some power from the sun.

and the local right wing fishwrap quoted the price as $50,000 for a standard car once mass production is set up.

I know the people who had EV-1s loved them, small range and all, and were very upset when they were recalled with no chance of purchase.

These things just might sell well.

but his goal is "to become the Dell of solar."

If you can get this magazine it also has great advice on investing in green companies.

Those of you who can will buy these new cars because you can afford them now. In a few years you will probably make a trade in and then there is a car for someone who can only buy used. Eventually they will be affordable for the poorer citizens. Well not all of us - many of us will be using mass transit. I have done so many times. Hopefully we can get past the 10 year rule that manufactures items for only a 10 years lifespan.

High end luxury cars carry a lot more profit per unit and that's necessary to fund a start up like Tesla. The $100k Roadster sold out production in '07, '08 and they're taking orders for '09--50% non-refundable deposit. All that profit is going into the next phase of development, the 4 door five passenger sedan.

it wont be until we switch to a total hydrogen economy that global warming will stop getting worse