Disrupters are forcing us to prepare ourselves for more than just a transportation revolution. The combustion engine affected horse breeders, blacksmiths, saddlers and carriage makers. Now we could see the end of car dealers, filling stations and motor mechanics. In July 2015 Leon Louw ‘drove’ a Tesla and wrote about it: Elon Musk: Demise of motor mechanics. These are some of his comments: the operator’s manual is built into the touch and voice command system; there are no scheduled services because centralised computers monitor all cars and owners are told if repairs or new tyres are needed; Tesla fetches cars and returns them within hours; software updates are installed remotely; brakes last many years; there are no gears; everything is computer operated; the car cannot be stolen for long because any cellphone can track its whereabouts; there is no ignition switch; it unlocks and locks when the driver approaches and leaves; a smartphone app sets the car’s inside temperature remotely; a huge touch screen does what an iPad does and more; the car understands voice commands and the operator’s manual is built into the touch and voice command system.
Read Leon Louw’s complete column: Smart Tesla electric car poised to be disrupter first published on 8 July 2015 on BDlive by Business Day. Tesla’s creator, Elon Musk, is a former South African and international luminary, almost unknown in his native country. He is one of many great South Africans driven away by crazy policies — apartheid military conscription in his case. Pioneering the world’s leading internet payment system, PayPal, ensured his first fortune, which he lost in a subsequent venture.
South African born Elon Musk