Thread by @Scobleizer

My answer to @BenedictEvans about why Tesla is special.

Since @elonmusk gave me the first ride in the first Tesla all so many years ago I think it's useful to go all the way back to the beginning. How did Elon sell me, and others, on Tesla?

1. He showed us the advantages of Electric Motors. What were they even back then? First, high torque. Immediate high torque. He showed how it could blow away @jason's Corvette in a stop-sign drag race.

But electric motors' advantages don't stop there. They have only one moving part, vs. hundreds in an Internal Combustion Engine (AKA "ICE"). The power is also cheaper. My Tesla costs about half of the gas cost my Prius used to need to go a mile.

Electric engines need far less maintenance. No oil changes. No spark plugs, etc. He also demonstrated how his tires would never loose traction, which means fewer loss-of-control accidents and even better efficiency (which he also showed in our race).

2. Electric cars are safer. The motor for them is much smaller and lighter so more weight can be put into crumple zones. Go back to the Model 3 launch and he showed how it was better than Volvo even at a side impact.

3. Note that he didn't really push it as an environmental solution, but one that would save money (eventually, after companies would get to volumes, which Tesla is close to achieving, note that the $35,000 Tesla is due to start shipping in the next six months).

Note that he didn't talk about autonomous cars, or over the air updates, etc, back then.

Now, how would the demo change today if Elon gave me the same ride? Because I now have a Tesla of my own, let me complete the sales pitch and then we can talk about Tesla's future...

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4. NEW: No button dash. Everyone who sits in my Tesla immediately notices the huge display in the dash and that there's no other displays or buttons. Why does this matter? Makes almost everything on the car controllable through software. In particular the phone.

5. NEW: Your phone is key. Why does this matter? Because you can control many things from your phone, including the AC system (when I took my Tesla on a 9,000-mile road trip I often turned on the AC before my family got back to the car. Temps outside were 100 this is much nicer.

6. NEW: Computer-controlled driving. You should have been in Kansas with me. The whole state is one long, boring, straight, road with very little traffic on it. Autopilot made the drive much safer and much less boring. Same for Silicon Valley traffic.

7. NEW: Always connected. While on our month-long road trip I received an over-the-air update, which improved autopilot and added new features like the ability to self-drive it into and out of my garage, which is nice since space is pretty tight there. LTE is always on.

This was the fifth such upgrade I had received since buying the car in April. Each time I've gotten major features and autopilot and other features have improved and bugs have gotten fixed. How many major feature updates has your phone gotten in that time?

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8. NEW: Handling characteristics changeable. One of the software updates I got was something called "CHILL" which changes how the car accelerates. My car also lets me change the steering from something like an old Cadillac to something like a Porsche -- all via computer.

9. NEW: Computer controlled seats and climate control. Even my vents are controlled by the computer now. This means that when my wife gets in the car it doesn't bother her by blowing cold air on her face like I like my car to do. Everyone has custom settings controlled by phone.

10. NEW: Accident avoidance and best-in-industry cruise control. My wife has a new Toyota and it isn't even close to as good as the systems in my Tesla. Makes me feel safer and more comfortable as a driver.

11. NEW: Nationwide Supercharger Network. Only with a Tesla can you drive around the USA and charge from an empty battery to a full battery in about 1.5 hours. In places where there are lots of restaurants and other services.

12. NEW: Service network. Including a nationwide mobile service system. Need help? Tesla is always there (your car even has the number, and if you are in an accident Tesla will call you and make sure you are OK) and most drivers will get a mobile service tech to come to them.

Add all 12 together and that's what makes a Tesla. Now, why does all this set up Tesla for crushing, say, Uber/Lyft/Didi? (Which is why I think the Saudi's are interested in investing).

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Let's say we had a time machine and could go a decade into the future. It is my thesis that many of us won't buy a car anymore, but will rather use something that looks like a permanent Uber.

Why?

1. Cost per mile. Today a Toyota costs somewhere around $.35 per mile to operate. Electric will knock that down a bit. But self-driving will take it way down, because of fewer accidents and more efficiency (already autopilot is better at efficiency than I am when driving).

2. Rural availability. I used to live in Half Moon Bay. Uber wasn't very good there. Why? Our town only had 13,000 residents and is hard to get to. Most of America is even worse off. But when self-driving taxis come they will reach far more places for far less.

3. Convenience. If we had an always on-self-driving Uber style system we could use it even when tired, or drunk, or when we wanted to work on a presentation, or just watch a movie. And because we weren't paying a driver it also would be lower-cost-per-mile than owning your own.

4. Consistency. What hurts Uber's brand? Lack of consistency. I've used Uber all over the world and sometimes the drivers are real jerks (usually they are nice). Sometimes the car that shows up is a mess (usually not).

But if Tesla were to do an Uber you'd have more consistency.

So, if you don't buy into that thesis, then having a dash without any buttons doesn't matter.

But if you do buy into that thesis than Tesla has a HUGE moat around its brand. Only Tesla, today, uses a phone as a key to get access to the car. Imagine an Uber-style thing...

...where your car shows up at an airport and you get in and either self drive away or take control and drive it yourself away. Only Tesla is set up to deliver all of this. Can others? Sure, but wake me up when they do. I don't think they will.

Add this all together and I see a HUGE advantage for Tesla. Take any one feature away and it still is better than other cars, but the difference starts eroding. There's a reason why when I have talked to hundreds of other Tesla owners they all love their cars.