TESLA AND SOCIAL CLASS
Is Tesla creating eco-friendly cars or status symbols for the 1%?
Since the first Ford Model T, cars have always been a symbol of status. However, Tesla takes this to a new level.
With a starting price point of $84,000, the Tesla Model X is only slightly above the average price range for other luxury SUVs, including Porshe, Land Rover, and Lincoln. However, Tesla has become more of a status symbol than all of these other cars combined, for one reason: Silicon Valley is no Detroit.
“Why buy a Lexus or BMW when you can make a statement for a similar sticker price?” – Kumar Saha of the Toronto Star
When people buy a new Tesla, they aren’t just buying a luxury car, they are buying cutting-edge technology and an innovative view of the future. In this sense, more than the car, they are buying the exclusive lifestyle that the car represents.
Tesla’s symbol as a luxury brand bears many similarities to that of another high-end technology company supported by a cult-like fan base: Apple. Tesla transformed the auto-industry with its new, luxurious electric cars just as Apple transformed the mobile phone industry with its sleek, touch-screen design.
Steve Jobs and Elon Musk have each created products that go beyond the conventional and focus on both aesthetic and utility. The Tesla Roadster and the iPhone have both become “premium, aspirational products,” as Kumar Saha of the Toronto Star states in her article about similarities between Tesla and Apple. It is this “halo effect” that explains why buyers would rather opt for a Tesla over a BMW and an iPhone over an Android.
Tesla's Idealistic Vision and Elitist Reality
Knowing that his technology has built up an upper-class allure, Elon Musk has started to cater to a broader population with his new, cheaper Model 3 and vision for underground Hyperloop tunnels that would be available to everyone. But how much do these new technologies actually benefit the lives of the middle and lower classes?
First of all, as Ian Bogost states in his article “The Tesla Model 3 Is Still a Rich Person’s Car”, the new Model 3 may be Tesla’s cheapest car yet, but of course, “all affordability is relative.” At first glance, it may seem like the Model 3’s $35,000 price would mark it as the new “every man’s car,” however this is not the case. Reservations for this model started at $1000 dollars and first dibs were reserved for Tesla’s existing customers, that is people who can afford $100,000 cars.
Tesla's cheaper Model 3 sedan
Furthermore, A Mashable profile on who is buying the Model 3 revealed that despite its low price, early Model 3 adopters are anything but low class. Although the results were obviously not indicative of all buyers, the majority of people profiled were still younger, upper-class white males living in the Bay Area. Out of the two women profiled, one was a racecar driver and the other already owned a Model S. These results are to say that Model 3 buyers are not everyday people, they are elites.
Musk’s vision of the future, especially his idea to move everyone out of public transportation and into self-driving cars, is completely unrealistic for people, especially the lower class, who live in cities.
“Society can never be sustainable if everyone lives like those at the top, and it’s pretty clear that elite lifestyles are core to the visions of Musk’s companies.”
Musk claims that his new Hyperloop technology, an intricate systems of underground tunnels that would allow cars to travel at speeds greater than 120 mph, would solve traffic congestion in cities. In an article describing how Musk ignores the lower class, author Paris Marx argues that instead of building tunnels beneath the city that are only open to the Tesla-owning elite, Musk should focus his energy on improving public transportation infrastructure that benefits everyone, not just the top 1%.
Click below to read more of Paris Marx's article on
how Musk continues to disregard the lower-class.