CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - MAY 27: Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, participates in a press ... [+] conference at the Kennedy Space Center on May 27, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were scheduled to be the first people since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 to be launched into space from the United States, but the launch was postponed due to bad weather. (Photo by Saul Martinez/Getty Images)

For many years, automobiles was the most boring category to cover from a marketing/advertising perspective. Thats partially because there were no new entrants, merely new sub-brands from the big industry players.

But the lack of competition in autos was only one factor. The environment was another. There was a cognitive dissonance between the idea of taking to the road while imperiling the planet. Half-measures like raising mileage and hybrid engines didnt satiate that inner voice that prevented consumers from fully embracing a joyride. For some, there was always that nagging sense of willful obfuscation that meant you werent dealing with life on its own terms.

For decades, it seemed like there was no way around it. There was no alternative to gas engines. Electric cars were a curiosity, not a solution. My father was a car salesman. I remember in the late 1970s he had a demo car that hed plug in to the garage outlet. He didnt think much of them, certainly not as a replacement for gas-powered models.

In the early 2000s, it became clear that battery technology had improved so much that an electric car was plausible. Yet none of the big playersFord, GM, DaimlerChrysler or any of the foreign automakersplanned to make an electric car.

The problem was that electric cars were seen as green and the idea of one going fast and offering thrills for the driver was off the table. It seemed incongruous to market a vehicle that was both green and had strong performance.

But where others saw reasons for despair, Elon Musk saw an opportunity. Electric cars could be quick off the line (0-60 in 2.3 seconds) and look flashy.

Tesla

It worked. In July, Tesla became the largest automaker by market value. Moreover, Tesla owners are free of the worry and expense of gassing up and the guilty feeling of polluting the planet.

Tesla could not have done this without Musk. The former PayPal exec is well-known in tech circles and respected as an autodidact with a range of interests (his other projects include SpaceX, Solar City and Open AI, among others).

But at the moment it seems that getting American consumers to take seriously the idea of electric cars is his greatest accomplishment.

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Why Elon Musk Is The Marketer Of The Moment - Forbes