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1 Strange Way Owning A Tesla Changes The Owner

Call me crazy but I have seen this dozens of times now. Owning a Tesla causes change to the owner. It is not necessarily bad, but I found it very interesting.
2020 Tesla P100D Dual Motor Performance

I know many people, most of whom are into what everyone else is, sports, stock market, horse racing (really?), and who has the bigger house. It seems that keeping up with each other is the thing to do, so why would owning a Tesla be any different?

I have taken the time to meet with dozens of Tesla owners and read about them each time I have come up with the same conclusion. Owning a Tesla changes the owner. How, you ask? In the same way that cars have been changing people for over 120 years.

How Does A Tesla Change The Owner?
The more I meet and read about Tesla owners, I have gained one common thread from all of them. They were not 'Car people" before owning a Tesla.

A car person should be an enthusiast and have a love for all types of automobiles and the technology behind them. Every single Tesla owner I know has some sort of obsession with their car. Two people close to me bought theirs on a whim and now have a passion for them.

2019 Tesla Model 3 Grey

It is interesting to me that non-car people all of a sudden become "fanatics" seemingly overnight after owning a Tesla. Why does this happen? My theory Tesla did something that other carmakers needed to do decades ago but failed. Build a better electric car that is fast, tech-filled, and relentlessly beautiful.

Conclusion
There is nothing wrong with becoming interested in cars. I find it fascinating that people who previously were involved with tech, sport, or anything but cars now own and have a slight obsession with their Tesla?

I think Tesla hits a niche for people that no other carmaker ever has, and as a result, we are seeing more people become involved with their EVs.

What do you think? Are non-car people turned Tesla owners considered 'a car person'? Drop me a line, and we can discuss.

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Peter Neilson is an automotive consultant specializing in electric cars and hybrid battery technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Service Technology from Weber State University. Peter can be reached on Linkedin and you can tweet him at The_hybrid_guy on Twitter. Find his page on Facebook at Certified Auto Consulting. Read more of Peter's stories at Toyota news coverage on Torque News. Search Toyota Prius Torque News for more in depth Prius coverage from our reporter.

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Comments

Timothy Boyer    September 13, 2021 - 4:43PM

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I think that you are correct---Tesla enthusiasts for the most part do not appear to come from a prior history of being a car enthusiast. My guess is that sociologists will prove later that this is more of a culture-cult phenomenon where a large population of people have a need to feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves, which is the real genius of Musk in what he provides: Sexy cars, a space program that holds the promise of commercial space travel (rather than research), all wrapped up in the packaging of "If you buy a Tesla then you are helping the environment"---unlike those nasty ICE owners who are polluting our world (sarcasm intended here in case it is missed). However, I recognize that I could be wrong. It could also be a sign of people being tired of the Old Order and want something new in hopes of a better world. I would like to believe that this is true. In any case, this is proving to be very interesting and I wonder how it will all pan out---especially since there is such a large number of pre-ordered vehicles that have an unknown and uncertain fulfillment date. If there is one truism in consumer buying power as Amazon has demonstrated, is that people want immediate rather than delayed satisfaction. As such, there is the risk that fans will become disenchanted and turn on Tesla; and, that China could wind up winning over previous Tesla fans with slicker looking and more affordable EVs. Or maybe I just need a beer. :^ )

Kevin (not verified)    September 14, 2021 - 3:44AM

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Omg!! Your sarcasm is so valid. So true that Tesla owners are not saving the planet. They are just bunch of minions that follows Musk. Those people just end up having money without brains. You need to be made savior of the world. You are intelligent and brilliant

Bill Olson (not verified)    September 14, 2021 - 7:33PM

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I've LOVED cars since I was a little kid. I had quite a few HotWheels and Matchbox cars and couldn't wait until I was old enough to buy my own.

Also, my dad worked for an electric company and he is dead now but he would have LOOOOOOVED Teslas.

My wife and I have a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 5.7 liter V8 and I thought it was quick off the line with lots of power but that is nothing compared to our Tesla dual engine Model Y without the performance upgrade which goes from zero to 60 in 5.8 seconds.

I don't own Tesla stock but that is only because my wife is afraid that if we buy it that Tesla stock will go down and we will lose our money. Instead we could have been retired by now if we had bought it. Oh well...

My favorite cars are the 1970 Plymouth Superbird "towel rack" with the 440 hemi.
I also love the 1968 & 69 Plymouth Barracuda which we could have bought for a decent price once upon a time and sold them now and be retired if she could have pried them out of my cold, dead, fingers.

As for my Tesla. My favorite thing about it isn't the speed or that people see me driving it. My favorite thing is plugging it into my Tesla Wallcharger and having it fully charged and never having to stop at a gas station. I sometimes but rarely stop at a charging station but right now that it fun and gas stations were only fun for a year when I first started driving them and then I started hating them and wanted a way to fill up my vehicles at home.

I tried in the '80s to have a compressed natural gas pump at home but they wouldn't let me have one because I wasn't a business that had multiple trucks to fill up. I seriously thought about buying several old trucks that ran on compressed natural gas just to be able to get it but my wife said no.

Sometimes she can just not be any fun. (wink)