Elon Musk: "Gasoline should probably be $10 a gallon"
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jun 15th 2009 at 7:37PM 
Tesla Model S – Click above for high-res image gallery
Speaking at the Wired Business Conference that's currently taking place in New York, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk had some rather interesting things to say. For instance, Musk believes that gasoline "should probably be $10" per gallon. While that doesn't sound like a popular sentiment for those Americans struggling with the thought of paying just $3 per gallon, but Musk offers an environmental reason to promote higher fuel prices:
I'm not paying for the true cost of gasoline at the pump...since nobody's explicitly paying for the CO2 capacity of the oceans and atmospheres, it's getting consumed. We will pay for it down the road, but we are sort of ignoring it for now.Naturally, Tesla Motors stands to benefit from the high cost of gasoline though the sale of its electric cars – possibly at the expense of the current crop of automakers – but Musk doesn't have all bad things to say about the Detroit-based competitors:
I think it'll probably be a healthier place... I think this will be a cathartic experience. I think GM and Ford, maybe not Chrysler, but GM and Ford will come out of this healthier... and more competitive.Further, Musk says he'd "like to take up some of the manufacturing plants. When the mess gets sorted out I'd like to have a conversation with whoever's in charge."
And what of the current crop of environmentally-friendly automobiles? Musk's not a big fan, saying, "A Prius is not a true hybrid, really. The current Prius is like, 2 percent electric. It's a gasoline car with slightly better mileage."
[Source: CNET]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Matt 8:02PM (6/15/2009)
Well, he didn't sound like a total tool this time... still needs someone in PR to hold the keys to his speech, though.
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downtoearth 8:07PM (6/15/2009)
But he is absolutely right.
Either:
1. You say lies and nonsense people want to hear and you become popular.
or:
2. You say painful truth and people ignore/hate/mock you.
Musk went for the latter. Respect.
Matt 8:34PM (6/15/2009)
Unfortunately, Elon continues to express his [irrelevant] opinion in a very public way. If you want to know why the Republican party as a whole is not gung-ho about hybrids and electrics you can sum it up by saying they don't want to be associated with people like Elon. Conservatives in this country don't want to be seen as extremists (regardless of whether or not they actually are).
He has a great product, no doubt, but he can't seem to understand that he could sell them to a much broader audience if he didn't alienate half of them every time he has an interview. The bad thing is it's not always the same half! "Volt sucks", "Prius sucks", "Gas should be $10/gal" "____ is a douchebag". Elon, nobody needs to know what you think about ______. Promote your very good cars and do it in a way that shows their attributes rather than other's shortcomings; you will sell more I promise.
MisterK 12:07AM (6/16/2009)
I think you will find that the vast majority of people will never hear this stuff. It only because you are interested enough to be on this website do you hear the stupid shit he says.
For 90%+ of the population, it is the product doing the talking. Most people wouldn't even know who he is.
Just like most people don't know who run Ford or Toyota or Mercedes-Benz. Most people don't give a shit. They just want a car. Maybe a electric car, maybe a SUV, maybe mileage is important to them, maybe it is ride quality that's most important. Hell, even the marque maybe important to them, but I very much doubt that the CEO of the company they end up choosing to buy their car from enters the mind of many customers.
Tim 10:31AM (6/16/2009)
Musk is right about some things!
Had politicians been obeying their OATH to the Constitution leaving market TRULY freely capitalistic instead of the "Crony" Capitalism we've endured over the last 100 years (since W. Wilson) and had the gov't NOT been redistributing taxpayer subsidy to big oil via direct payments, and foreign intervention (military, bribes, "aid") etc., and had we use of SOUND money instead of the Fed's fiat currency, gas would have passed $10.00/gal in the 1970s and STAYED THERE.
If it weren't for (1) the Fed, (2) "Crony" Capitalism, and (3) Gov't central planning, we would have been off oil 30 YEARS ago!
Our oil addiction was CAUSED and is SUSTAINED by Gov’t intervention on behalf of giant corporations who can afford the lobbyists and campaign contribution bribes. Gov’t is supposed to LEVEL the playing field and instead they are acting like cronies and tipping it on behalf of their giant corporate sponsors.
Don’t confuse corporate sponsors with mom & pop small business that HAS NO SAY!
I love the free market, but it is NOT FREE when gov’t chooses favorites and creates monopolies using taxpayer funds and public policy colorable “law”. Socialism (Obama’s “change”) is just MORE crony capitalism instead of Constitutional freedom and free market competition.
Those who blame the “free market” don’t understand that we have NOT had a free market since Woodrow Wilson’s time! The true fault lies with Crony Capitalism which is a Socialism/Fascism hybrid of our current ONE Statist party system of Democrat-Socialists and NeoCon-Fascists.
David 1:41PM (6/20/2009)
Tim:
"Free Market" Capitalism. Ha. "Free Market" is the ultimate oxymoron. You only have to read two words to understand its impossibility.
Your post is a critique of itself. The Constitution doesn't mention an economic system at all (weird, huh?). Around the same time (a little earlier), there was a book, full of flaws, written by an absent minded, eccentric Scottish bureaucrat called "Wealth of Nations." Fortunately, our elected officials have NOT sworn an oath to that (at least not officially).
Unfortunately, since the late sixties (or maybe the late 19th century), somehow the public has swallowed spoon fed portions of the tenets of that book that help protect the very large corporations you disdain.
The Constitution is a document, in large part, outlining the RIGHTS that the GOVERNMENT should protect. Should you want to see an example of LESS government, I give you: Somalia.
If the government is not fulfilling its role in protecting our rights, thanks to the Constitution, we have multiple means of rectifying that (if we still know how to use our brains).
Meanwhile, it's precisely the myth of "freedom" that lobbyists use to help sway politicians to give their clients more power and ironically give you and me (and small business) less power. Money for the rich and canned, hack ideology for the masses. It's a powerful political strategy used successfully for centuries by the Catholic church. And just as it was heresy to criticize the church, see what happens when you try to criticize Capitalism. It's damned brilliant; or maybe not but at least its damned effective.
required 8:07PM (6/15/2009)
We need to remove all subsidies from fossil fuels and we need to remove them now!
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Dave 8:17AM (6/16/2009)
If there is to be a transition to alternative fuels, it should be gradual.
I'd suggest a law that increases the tax on gas by 10-20% every year, for example.
Predictable, consistent public policy encourages private investment into progressive technologies.
Snowdog 8:29AM (6/16/2009)
I disagree with gradual. People would get accustomed to the price changes over time and would barely alter their behavior. A sudden change like $4+/Gallon gas last year woke everyone up and started a lot of real change.
The same with incentive plans. We had an Eco Rebate here in Canada, that was staged, meet this economy, get this back, meet the next level, get the next amount. Get something between, get the lower amount.
Honda pissed and moaned saying it should be a pro rated amount, get halfway to the target, get half the amount. But since this didn't happen, Honda, actually went to work improving the fuel economy of the Fit to meet the next level target. If it were a pro rated target, they would have done nothing.
If your goal is to make everything slow, gradual and easy as possible that works against human psychology if you actually want to drive change. Change needs a wake up call.
MBM 8:38PM (6/15/2009)
Yeah sure. Gas should cost 10 bucks a gallon and Tesla roadsters "should" cost 25K instead of north of 100k. Who's to say Tesla isn't ripping off its customers worse than any energy company? Anyone who thinks fuel is too cheap should feel free to rebate the difference between the current three bucks or so and the "should" cost of ten bucks directly to the all-knowing all-seeing technologically omniscient Department of Transportation. It's your responsibility to pay as a good steward of the planet is it not? If you ain't willing then why should the rest of us be so eager to see fuel taxed to insane levels?
And oh yeah removing the subsidies from gasoline might bump the price up at least a quarter--maybe two.
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polo 10:17PM (6/15/2009)
Why should the Roadster cost $25K when its designed to compete with other high-end cars? Anyone would laugh if you suggested a Porche 911 should be $25,000.
Mike 8:25AM (6/18/2009)
polo,
Is Porche a kit car? made to look like a Porsche? If so, it probably is less then 25k.
ShaunneyCakes 8:48PM (6/15/2009)
I love this guy. Why not make it $60 a gallon Elon? Tesla REALLY needs to shut up their CEO before their company gets a stupid and arrogant image like Apple...
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Matt 9:51PM (6/15/2009)
That's exactly what I was thinking about, but didn't want to bring in the direct comparison. Now that you mention it, though, it's the same kind of polarization he's bringing to the market, but in Tesla's case they don't have one Microsoft to target and they're hitting people that would otherwise be on their side.
Kelly OBrien 12:03AM (6/16/2009)
I've never understood why some deify the Tesla people... first, it was Martin Eberhard, now Elon Musk, who's musings seem to elicit reverence from green vehicle adherents.
When Musk talks about Tesla vehicles, I'll listen. All the rest of his musings should be subject to editorial review. If I buy a Tesla, it'll be in spite of people like this, not because of them.
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Graham, Royal Oak, MI 9:47PM (6/15/2009)
If the American middle class is paranoid about the future, Mr. Musk goes a ways toward explaining that not-so extreme anxiety. Only a couple of weeks ago, the WSJ reported that the US -- including Michigan -- was sitting on top of at least a "100 years supply" of natural gas. In the mid-2000s, the Journal also ran a series of articles documenting a world swimming in oil. We keep lurching back and forth on our energy future and the eco-extremists wonder why they have no credibility with the ordinary person. Now coal is being attacked by the USGS. Could that be because, as also reported in the Journal, the DoD has, in recent years, with a private-sector partner, demonstrated viable coal gasification. They've flown everything from fighters to B1s and B52s on the stuff. and are only a few billion dollars away from perfecting a fuel that is indistinguishable from the jet fuel used today. My 1970 VW got 20mpg -- now a full size pickup truck nearly does. The Volt is too expensive; the hybrids overpromise; wind power is even a greater threat to the public commons than "overdevelopment." We need, as we have always needed since the beginning of the industrial revolution, a robust source of power. And yes, that includes nuclear energy. It is a measure of just how unimaginative the Republican Party is that they ignore the most obvious campaign slogan, deduced from decades of ideological hostility to a decent standard of living: In 2010 -- "The Democrats Want You To Be Poor." Their policies have worked in the big cities, now they're coming to a cul-de-sac near you. Brute-force politics for the whole country -- The Chicago Way, as Sean Connery once said. You wanted it -- you got it. Just don't call it community involvement or ordered, Constitutional liberty or constitutional at all.
Graham, Royal Oak, MI
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polo 3:40AM (6/16/2009)
Yeah ok. Coal is going to save us, we have infinite everything, and windmills are the devil. OK, why don't you try and prove anything you just said.
The rethuglicans have also accused the Democrats from being everything from terrorists to marxists, black-militants, socialists, communists, and fascists. They're hardly "unimaginative" in their ignorant hateful slogans.
Mark 4:27PM (6/16/2009)
Wow, do you republicans ever have anything positive to say? You just complain about how bad new technology is but never give a viable alternative. Why can the GOP get out of the 20th century?
Redeemed 11:33AM (6/16/2009)
"The rethuglicans have also accused the Democrats from being everything from terrorists to marxists, black-militants, socialists, communists, and fascists. They're hardly "unimaginative" in their ignorant hateful slogans"
Do you ever post a comment on these forums without the name calling?
Grow up.
jharlan 10:17PM (6/15/2009)
Elon Musk, You and Eberhard have built a really great EV, but personally you are a self serving pompous ass, and you never know when to shut the f up.
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