- Tesla is the highest valued car manufacturer in the world.
And it makes sense why, they build an amazing car.
They have an iconic CEO and have pioneered
much of the electric vehicle industry.
It's no wonder so many people love the cars
that Tesla makes but some people might
love Tesla, a little too much.
See for years, car companies like Toyota, BMW,
and Nissan have made vehicles for the masses.
And while they produce some amazing cars
none of them have been able to replicate the same
cult following that Tesla has created.
Now, Tesla fans, you guys are great.
I'm happy to have you here but
some of you are a little scary.
These are the Tesla super fans.
These folks are obsessed with Tesla
and are very different from your average car enthusiast.
Why is this? Why is Tesla such a cult in the first place?
How do Tesla enthusiast fit into the car community?
And are we at risk of Tesla stans ruining the car culture?
It's a very inflammatory title this week.
Let's see if I can back it up.
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Now let's get back to me.
We can't talk about Tesla without talking about
the man behind it all Elon Musk, whether it's smoking a J
on the Joe Rogan podcast, naming his child X Æ A-12
or building his own flame thrower
and selling it to the public.
Musk is constantly in the public eye.
And for good reason, he's an internet enigma
and self-proclaimed billionaire meme lord.
I mean, come on, he used hamsters
as a unit of measurement for one
of his new factories, which he said was able to
hold nearly 50 billion hamsters.
RIP to my hamster, Baxter. As far as CEOs go
his personality is unique and the public has fallen for him.
Unfortunately, some people AKA super fans
might fanboy over Elan, a little too much.
Many Tesla YouTubers reported losing subscribers
after posting videos that are critical of the company.
This fringe group of fans seems to find no fault with Musk,
Tesla, his hamsters, or anything he does.
These Tesla owners adore Elon and have
a propensity to radically defend
any criticisms thrown towards him or Tesla.
To them, Tesla is perfect and
is the peak of automotive engineering
and no other car company even comes close.
Some people call this fringe group of fans,
Musketeers but whatever you call them
they're not your average car enthusiast.
What makes them different?
I would argue that most car enthusiasts seem to
have a broad appreciation for all cars.
Like I'm not saying every car nerd
loves Japanese drift cars, American V8s,
or Italian Supercars, all the same.
But for these Tesla super fans, Tesla is it.
There are a few reasons that play into Tesla extremism
but most fingers pointing back to what I mentioned earlier.
Elon Musk, Elon does a lot of things well, but he excels
at one thing better than any other CEO or billionare
on the planet, which is his ability to understand
and connect with younger generations.
He stands out among the other CEO's
that he's grouped with, I mean.
How many other car companies CEOs can you name?
Like for me it's William Ford, but that's cause it's Ford.
Elon is clearly having some fun at his job.
For example, he claims that next year he'll be
launching a doge coin funded satellite to the moon.
He's going to call it doge_1. We'll see how that works out.
Of course Elon didn't tweet about
how innovative he is or how his space technology
is exceeding everyone's expectations.
His excitement was focused on
sending the "first meme to space".
And I have to admit, that's just good marketing.
It's this type of attitude that sets Elon Musk apart
and his fans are captivated by it.
Musk doesn't need any type of advanced marketing scheme
or press release to sell his cars.
Heck, Tesla doesn't even have
an active public relations department.
And few journalists can even get a hold of Tesla.
Some would say, this is a poor move on Tesla's part
but it hasn't hurt them quite yet.
Everything Elon does seems to get him the exposure
he needs to sell his products and his fans do a great job
of getting the word out for better or for worse.
No other CEO has connected with their
customers on the level that Elon has.
It's a big reason why so many younger people look
up to him and want to purchase his cars.
Of course, it's important to remember that
not all Tesla owners are Elon fanatics or super fans,
but it seems his personality has had a huge influence
on his car sales and his cult following.
Where does this leave other car companies?
What do other manufacturers need to do
in order to create their own following
and compete with Elon and Tesla?
And are there any risks of doing so?
I think many car manufacturers would
find it beneficial to experiment
with a slightly more informal social
media approach, like Elon has.
Think about a company like Wendy's
their Twitter is pretty funny, right?
They freely roast people and make jokes.
They start beef with other fast-food restaurants.
And because of this, it's hard not to think
about Wendy's without thinking about their Twitter.
Now imagine if Toyota actively posted cheesy
super memes are jokingly stabbed at Honda on Twitter.
The internet would probably love it.
And it would probably catch the interest
of a younger consumer base.
People expect big companies to be formal
and play by the rules, but things are changing.
And nowadays an edgy Twitter account is an easy way to
get free exposure and gets a lot
of people excited about the brand.
Elon is essentially doing the same thing as Wendy's
but he's just attaching his name to Tesla, right?
Brands taking on these internet personalities
has been a recent phenomenon and who knows
maybe some car companies might find the same
success Tesla and Wendy's have found
by shredding their stuffy reputations
and loosening up a little bit.
Hey, if you're liking this episode so far
go ahead and give us a like, it really
helps us out and I really appreciate it.
So what are some other ways that car manufacturers
can compete with Tesla and grow their following?
Marketing aside, I think it's important
for other car companies to begin building EVs
that can truly compete with Tesla.
Which honestly we've already seen a lot of.
Elon raise the bar for the automotive industry
turning the idea of EVs from a boring eco-friendly car
into a sexy and desirable vehicle.
Tesla even made the lithium battery technology available
to their competition in order to fuel EV innovation.
Elon truly wants to see EV succeed.
And he wants to see the best car win.
Tesla has encouraged manufacturers
to set their sights to EV and we've gotten cars
like the Porsche Taycan and the Mustang Mach E
but even with cars like these.
Companies just can't seem to
achieve the same cult following.
Time will tell though, and soon enough, Tesla will have
plenty of competitors that offer cars
with similar or even better performance.
With more EVs on the market, Tesla
may soon lose some of its hype.
And in turn, some of its cult following, or other
companies may grow their following through the EV market.
There's really no way to tell what might happen.
There's no doubt an influx of people
have entered the car scene because of Tesla.
Well, I think they're not so much car nerds
as they are tech enthusiasts.
It makes sense why tech people would
love Tesla so much in the first place.
This is the first time a car company
has merged computers and cars at this level.
And it's the ultimate gadget for tech nerds
whether it's Tesla autopilot, or touchscreen control
unit that controls the whole car Tesla's are
practically One PLus nine pros on wheels.
And with tech being such a massive industry.
It was only a matter of time before
tech people were integrated in the car scene at this level.
But the question still remains are Tesla super fans
still car enthusiasts or are they
just misunderstood tech enthusiasts?
And if they're just tech fans,
are they really impacting car culture negatively?
Well, yes and no. Let me explain.
People buy Teslas for a lot of different reasons.
Some car enthusiasts love them for their performance.
Some people love the cool technology.
Some people buy them because they appreciate
the relatively eco-friendly technology.
And some Elon stans just want one of his vehicles.
There are tons of car enthusiasts
and gearheads that own Teslas and love them.
But there are plenty of people who buy
Teslas just because of Elon Musk.
And I think these are the people who aren't necessarily
car enthusiast, but more so Tesla enthusiasts
and a select group of these people have turned
into the infamous super fans that we talked about.
This brand loyalty isn't completely
unheard of in the car scene though.
Think about like Corvette boomers, you know
the old guys that drive Corvettes and meet
up with each other to compare autocross times
and discuss their new balances in
a Shakey's pizza parking lot.
They love their Corvettes, which is awesome
but they don't really seem to
be interested in any other kind of car.
They've earned themselves a reputation in the car scene.
And I don't think these guys are much different
than the tech junkies who love Teslas.
They both enjoy their cars. They don't really
associate themselves with any other type
of driver and you know what that's okay.
Our beloved Corvette boomers don't seem to
be causing much harm, but what about our Tesla's super fans?
What's their role in the car culture.
See Tesla ownership isn't just a brand.
It's a culture. They have their own Tesla websites
and Tesla meets exclusively for Teslas
and really only mingle with one another.
Tesla super fans don't seem to be interested in other cars.
And it seems to stem from the belief
that Teslas are better than every other car
in the market and are the future of the automotive industry.
Don't get me wrong. I think the technology is amazing
but I think the trendiness and performance of Teslas
breeds a sort of haughty elitism among some super fans.
You've probably seen this before. You're on the freeway.
Your windows are rolled down because it's warm night.
The sun is setting beneath the horizon.
And then when everything is going right, a Tesla cruises
by you and his license plate reads NO-F-N-GAS.
A single tear streams down your
face, in visible frustration.
You think to yourself, "what kind of person
would spend 50 extra dollars on registration
to tell me his electric car doesn't run on gas?"
This is worse than the one I saw yesterday
in the trader Joe's parking lot
which said, thanks Elon, come on.
Do they make you sign a contract
that you have to get a vanity plate when
you roll it off the lot. What's going on?
I know your electric car is electric.
That's the whole (beep) point.
It's in the name, it's called a Tesla.
It implies electricity. There's
no other car owner like this.
BMW owners don't like put like
"NO BLNKR" on their plates, right?
To their credit, I feel like Prius
owners did do this in like 2006.
So I know it's not just you, Tesla people.
What is it, like every time
there's like a trendy environmental car,
They have to proclaim it to the world.
I did pay for a thicc boi license plates
but once the DMV contacted me, I realized that I could not
in good conscious put that on my daily driver.
That would just be embarrassing, couldn't do it.
Before we get upset with super fans
for loving Elon Musk and his Tesla so much.
It's important to realize we share some similarities
with these super fans as well.
Sure. Super fans love Elon Musk
and buy his cars because of that.
But regular car enthusiasts have bought cars
because of central figures too.
Think about Carol Shelby, a guy
that we worship on this channel.
He was an extremely iconic name in racing
and heavily influenced the production and sales of cars.
Like the Cobra, Mustang, lots of Ford products.
People venerated him and bought
his vehicles because of that.
You can even argue that, Takami's character
in "Initial D" ushered in some of
the popularity of the Toyota 86.
In fact, I'd say all of the popularity of the AE86.
Why else would people spend $15,000 on a 30 year old Toyota
that barely has 150 horsepower?
Yes. It's a little weird to compare
Elon Musk to an anime character.
But to some degree, the principle still applies.
In the end, a true car enthusiast should appreciate all cars
because after all they're an enthusiast, this means
that V8 guys should be able to have a level
of respect for the Tesla Roadster,
and Tesla guys should be able to appreciate the culture
and the heritage of a Pontiac GTO, so on and so forth.
All cars have their benefits and drawbacks
and Teslas have their drawbacks, just like any other car.
It's okay to be passionate about something.
But if that passion is invalidating
or criticizing someone else's passion or interest
there's probably an inflated ego involved
or you just worship your car a little too much.
Let's remember to approach others with a sense
of respect and appreciation for one another's builds.
So next time you see a Tesla with a cool wrap
or a slam civic that can hardly go over speed bumps
make sure you give them a wave and a smile.
(car revs) (tire screeches)
- [Etherial Voice] Have you ever dreamed of a world
where cars and ideas create vision.
Where collectibles are not only collected?
They are felt.
- Introducing the latest innovation in cars and collectibles
Stocky (bouncy music)
- Introducing Stocky, the brand new,
high quality car collectible for us, car nerds.
We wanted to make something the perfect size to display
on your desk, next to your TV,
and your dorm room, in the shop, wherever.
We explored a ton of different deformations
before finally landing on this
something that we think is the perfect mix of fun
and style while still staying true to the original car.
Speaking of the car, we want to make a ton
of different Stockys, but for Stocky 0-0-1,
we knew that we had to go with one of the most iconic
and legendary tuner cars of all time the DC2 Integra type R
and I am so stoked to announce that
we have partnered with Acura,
making this an officially licensed Acura product.
We're launching this in a bunch
of sick different color ways.
Everything from OEM finishes like Phoenix yellow
authentic Honda championship white, Nighthawk black Pearl,
to crazy versions like glow in
the dark, primer gray, translucent.
We're even going to make a gold one like actual gold.
We're really stoked with how it turned out.
And we hope that you guys are too.
Now's your chance. Get one early.
The Kickstarter is only up for 30 days.
Get yourself a red, new collectible. You deserve it.
My dream is to see shelves of these
things in your guys's apartments.
Not that I'm creeping on your apartments or anything.
You know what I mean? Let's make Stocky a reality.
- Thank you for watching Wheelhouse.
Like I said, be kind, it's what I say
at the end of every episode, don't be a jerk.
Don't be a jerk about cars. Everyone's got their own thing.
If everybody liked the same stuff life would be very boring.
So just appreciate the differences.
Maybe we can learn a little something too.
Let me know in the comments your favorite
Tesla license plate that you've seen
or license plate that you'd put on your electric car.
Why not? Points for creativity.
Check out this episode of Wheelhouse on
whether electric cars are good or bad for the environment.
That's one of my favorite episodes.
If you're a Doughnut super freak
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Make sure you check out the Donut Underground
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Follow Donut on all social media @donutmedia.
Follow me @nolanjaysykes, if you'd like.
Be kind, don't be a jerk. We'll see you next time.