Position to Your Strengths, Market Opportunity and Capability. Just like Dyson leveraged the digital motor for category entry, Tesla should do the same with its battery and charging technology before the gorillas eat their lunch.
Tesla does not make the best cars. Even
Musk says the quality suffers when production ramps up and not to buy a model from a production ramp-up!
Simply, BMW, Volvo, Audi, even Ford, make better quality-built vehicles. So, what are the options?
Own the grid. Charging infrastructure is a nightmare. Most governments have done little to roll anything meaningful out, leaving it to private companies to make the investment.
Tesla has great form here. Its
Supercharger stations are an excellent experience, best in class technology and stationed where they need to be on the motorways, freeways/interstates and shopping centres. It has over 2,000 stations (locations) with over 20,000 chargers.
In a world where most of the BEV's are not Tesla's, Musk and Co. could do worse than offering a non-Tesla subscription and thus monetise the gorilla's market share without having to compete in like-for-like car sales.
The flip side is there's a competitive advantage for Tesla car sales and US BEV manufacturer
Rivian just joined the party too. In context though, if you are not the top-selling electric car, then you are shouting into a paper cup.
When it comes to charging, the future must be standardisation and interoperability.
Build cars for smaller gorillas. It's an economic fact, not all car companies can afford the cost of this structural change. Tesla can use its manufacturing plants to build for other brands. If well-known FMCG companies can make baked beans and toothpaste for supermarket brands, why can't Tesla make cars for someone else?
Either as a pure play OEM or as a co-branded 'powered by Tesla'.
Home is where the charge is. More than 80% of BEV's requiring charging at home. Tesla can bring smart technology and its brand to the home charging market by partnering with existing energy providers or improve their distribution for their current solo efforts.
The home market is naturally going to explode and there are some key players already, but no prestige brands. A Tesla charger at home is an enticing brand proposition, even if you drive a Ford BEV.
Leverage the renewable energy market. Another market to explode in the next ten years is the renewable energy market. Governments around the world and with the US back on side, the Paris climate accord must be acted upon.
Grants are widely available for solar in the home and the democratisation of the energy utility market (in the UK anyway) has meant that companies like
Bulb who only do single tariff 100% renewable energy are proving very popular.
Tesla has made a step here already. Its
Powerwall stores solar energy for you to use on-demand and surplus energy can be sold back to the grid. Even my local council is offering grants and collective-buying on solar and battery storage. In this case, the battery ain't no Powerwall. I'm not even sure it's a Duracell!