If Elon Musk’s Tweet on July 29 is a genuine indication of how he wants to develop the Electric Vehicle (EV) market, then this may be the beginning of a brilliant case-study for the benefits of collaboration.
The Tesla founder has often been unconventional, but few can deny he consistently strives to push the envelope and shake up the sector his businesses operate in, whether that be the automotive industry, space travel or solar panels.
The interesting aspect here is not what he produces next with Tesla, but how. Will he be able to open the opportunities for traditional car makers to collaborate with Tesla, leveraging their respective strengths? If so, then the transition from fossil fuels to electric power may happen far quicker than if each brand were to continue developing their own technologies on their own.
This will not only benefit the car makers, but car owners too. With a more efficient manufacturing and distribution infrastructure in place, allowing an increase in production to bring costs down, we could soon see the electric vehicle for the masses become a reality.
If these collaborations do happen, and the automotive industry does achieve the step-change away from fossil fuels sooner than expected, then this will indeed be an example of when collaborating instead of competing can benefit everyone involved (and possibly the environment too).