Electric vehicles have been in a pitched battle for supremacy. Specifically, Tesla Inc. has marketed itself as the thought leader of vehicle electrification with their charismatic leader, Elon Musk. In addition to manufacturing all-electric passenger vehicles since the mid 2010s, Musk announced in November 2017 Tesla will build an electric truck for a competitive price - $150,000 for the 300-mile range or $180,000 for the 500-mile range options.
Musk tweeted about the Tesla Semi that it “will blow your mind clear out of your skull and into an alternate dimension,” and subsequently that the truck “can transform into a robot, fight aliens and make one hell of a latte.”
That announcement was a good enough argument for a number of larger fleets to place advanced orders, including companies like Walmart, UPS, Pepsi, Ryder and more.
An electric history
Electric vehicles may be the battle of the present, but the history of electricity had giant battles and outsized personalities too. There was a battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse for the domination of electricity, all surrounded by another important figure of the time: Nikola Tesla.
Since Musk took the name for his electric automobile, Tesla has become a well-known brand. But before Musk’s car company was established, the name Tesla most notably referred to the prolific inventor. Born to Serbian parents in what is now Croatia on July 10, 1856, Tesla studied engineering and physics from the Graz University of Technology and gained practical experience working at Continental Edison. He was acquainted with many luminaries of the day including Mark Twain, John Jacob Astor, Albert Einstein, J.P. Morgan, Westinghouse and Edison.
Tesla was involved in wireless transmission, remote control (including a remote-control torpedo), X-ray research, radar, florescent light and, most notably, alternating current (AC) generation, motors and controls. He had 300 U.S. patents with over 40 related to AC generators, motors and related gear.
Tesla and Edison did work together. Tesla spent years at the European branch of Edison’s companies as a young engineer. When Tesla emigrated to the U.S. in 1884, he found his way to the New York laboratory of Edison and worked there. It seemed they clashed, Tesla felt he was ridiculed and he lasted only six months.
AC versus DC
Tesla and Westinghouse demonstrated the AC system for the first time at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. This invention clashed with Edison’s use of direct current (DC) electricity.
Edison believed DC was safer because it maintained a lower voltage during transmission. AC, on the other hand, allows the flow of energy to change direction periodically. With that directional change, AC can readily transmit higher amounts of energy on one system.
The war of DC current against AC current was epic. Tesla later sold his 40 patents on AC to Westinghouse for a total of $75,000, plus a royalty of $2.50 per horsepower of each motor.
Later, after the “current” war, both Edison and Westinghouse almost went broke, Edison was known to have said he should have gone with AC.
Tesla was receiving money from his patent royalties, but the current war took its toll. To save Westinghouse from bankruptcy, Tesla ripped up his royalty contract.
This move helped save Westinghouse’s company, but it didn’t really work out for Tesla. One of the greatest geniuses of any age, he died of heart failure, alone and destitute in a shabby hotel room, penniless and with significant debts, in 1943.
We don’t know how today’s battle will end up with modern-day Tesla. Will Musk win with his huge promises, or will he crash and burn from possible miscalculations or unforeseeable circumstances? One thing is certain, the competition will continue between fully electric vehicles and traditional internal combustion engines.
Joel Levitt has trained more than 17,000 maintenance leaders from more than 3,000 organizations in 35 countries. He is the president of Springfield Resources, a management consulting firm that services a variety of clients on a wide range of maintenance issues www.maintenancetraining.com. He is also the designer of Laser-Focused Training, a flexible training program that provides specific targeted training on your schedule, online to one to 250 people in maintenance management, asset management and reliability.
