“I wasn’t in a building. It was more like a UFO landing. I’d just kinda be somewhere, and people would walk by and experience it. So it was more like it kind of jarred their senses, where they were seeing this thing they had never seen before and never heard of before.
This article is an expanded version of material that appears in Tesla: How Elon Musk and Company Made Electric Cars Cool, and Remade the Automotive and Energy Industries, Edition 4.1. This history of Tesla, written by Charged Senior Editor Charles Morris and originally published in 2014, has now been completely revised and expanded, with new chapters on Model Y, Cybertruck, the Chinese Gigafactory and the events of 2020.
We’re here with another episode of Tesla Inside Out, a series on our CleanTech Talk podcast channel. This one is a special “Energy Independence Weekend” episode focused on a mix of the big EV news this year (more potent this week than ever) and David Havasi’s history in the industry (in Tesla from 2012–2019 and outside of it since then).
With social distancing being the name of the game these days, longtime Tesla insider David Havasi and I are no longer able to jump into a Tesla and chat about Tesla together for an hour. Perhaps that’s for the best, as it gives us the opportunity to steer the “Tesla Inside Out” series into a potentially better direction.
We published this podcast in early December, but it’s as relevant today as ever. If you missed this Tesla Inside Out episode, check it out now:
In this episode of “Tesla Inside Out,” we talk about David’s role getting sent down to Florida (from New York) in 2013 as a kind of Johnny Appleseed character — part of Tesla’s “asset light” program — in order to respond to consumer interest and stimulate sales in the region.
Ironically, David was sharing this story with me on Johnny Appleseed Day!
Resuming our “Tesla Inside Out” series, this video picks up where David Havasi and I left off last time, chuckling about a wild DIY Tesla delivery story. David and a team of early 2012 employees built a trailer to deliver early Model S’s without having any real clue what they were doing. Luckily, they got the job done. He also mentioned a funny story about a Miami delivery truck in highlighting their overall novice delivery truck awareness back in 2012.
You might have seen my first two (or three) articles and videos/podcasts from our new Tesla Inside Out series. If you haven’t, I highly recommend at least a perusal:
I recently met a gentleman named David Havasi while charging our Tesla Model 3 at a ChargePoint station at a Whole Foods I frequently visit. He recognized me from CleanTechnica and I quickly learned he worked at Tesla for 7 years, until just recently. We got talking, talking, talking, and talking. I wasn’t sure if he’d be camera shy to repeat some of what he told me (or more) on camera, but it turned out he very much wasn’t shy — he had actually worked on Broadway before working at Tesla!
Apparently, the UK’s SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders) can’t be bothered to input the Tesla Model 3’s name into their model database. Despite being the 3rd best selling passenger vehicle in the country last month, the Model 3 goes by the name/label “Other” in the top 10 ranking. I guess “no emissions” means you get no name.
