Tesla Motors CEO: Gas Should Be $10/Gallon

"I'm anti-tax, but I'm pro-carbon tax," Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk said onstage at the Wired Business Conference here Monday--a remark that prompted interviewer and Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson to quip that he was a "true Silicon Valley libertarian."

Gasoline "should probably be $10" per gallon, said onetime PayPal co-founder Musk, who is also attempting to make sending satellites into space cheaper with a start-up called SpaceX. "I'm not paying for the true cost of gasoline at the pump...since nobody's explicitly paying for the CO2 capacity of the oceans and atmospheres, it's getting consumed. We will pay for it down the road, but we are sort of ignoring it for now."

Musk's company has put out the Tesla Roadster, a pricey sports car that runs exclusively on electric power. On the way is the Model S, a more affordable sedan. Separate from the technology, Tesla has gained a reputation for financial difficulties and corporate bickering. Earlier this month, former CEO Martin Eberhard sued Musk and the company for libel and breach of contract.

Musk's rash attitude and devotion to cutting-edge innovation has constructed him as a figure less than willing to compromise. He didn't sound too satisfied, for example, with the level of innovation in the Toyota Prius, the car that is practically synonymous with environmental consciousness in the auto industry.

"A Prius is not a true hybrid, really," he said. (A plug-in Prius is on the way.) "The current Prius is like, 2 percent electric. It's a gasoline car with slightly better mileage."

That said, Tesla shines quite a bit brighter due to the utter disarray of the U.S. auto industry, with major automakers falling into bankruptcy and Detroit in a continuing downward spiral. This, according to Musk, was the inevitable result of a completely broken system.

"Great companies are built on great products," he said, and when those products take a turn for the worse, so does the company. Automakers, Musk theorized, focused too much on the money rather than innovation. "The path to the CEO's office should not be through the CFO's office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design."

Musk said that unions weren't inherently the problem but the way that they were structured was. "It's not out of the question to have unions. But if they do have a union, they've got to understand that they're on the same side of the company," Musk said. "I really am kind of against having a two-class system where you've got the workers and the management sort of like the nobles and peasants." In other words, Musk thinks Detroit could use a dose of Silicon Valley corporate culture.

Surprisingly, Musk implied that Detroit will survive. "I think it'll probably be a healthier place. This has been somewhat cathartic. Maybe, I think, maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I think this will be a cathartic experience," Musk said. "I think GM and Ford, maybe not Chrysler, but GM and Ford will come out of this healthier...and more competitive."

He wants Tesla to be part of that, obviously.

"I'd like to take up some of the manufacturing plants," he said. "When the mess gets sorted out I'd like to have a conversation with whoever's in charge."



By Caroline McCarthy
?2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved

[aka_KJB]

Sure he wants gas at $10/gallon. He wants people to go back to panic mode and make stupid investments in cars that operate on a technology that's not quite ready for general use just yet. It will be ready for everyone soon - vehicles using engines other than gasoline power are the way things are going to go and they need to. Doesn't mean we won't still have gas powered vehicles. There are some jobs that require a little more power than a Prius can muster. Like trying to drive through snow in the winter.
The electric project I want to see more info about is the one that Neil Young has been financing where they replace the engine in an existing vehicle with an electric system. Last I heard, they'd done just that with a late 60's Caddy he owns and things were going well on that. If I could do that and not have to choose between Toyota's ugly electric and Ford's ugly electric car, I'd be a lot more interested in owning one myself. Then there's the price. If the idea is to get the general public to stop using as much gasoline as possible then there will have to be big incentives and rebates to get the people who need & use their vehicles a lot behind the wheel of an electric car.

[hairbow]

AND I HOPE A KILOWATT GOES UP TO $100.00,,,DROP DEAD TELSA

[hairbow]

AND I HOPE A KILOWATT GOES UP TO &100.00, DROP DEAD TELSA

[hairbow]

AND I HOPE A KILOWATT GOES UP TO $100.00,,,DROP DEAD TELSA

[markangeloo]

Why has the Tesla dealership in LA on Santa Monica disappeared ?

[micheleisfree]

Elitist pig!
Nicola Tesla is spinning in his grave!
Tesla worked to give us nearly free electricity. The technology is hidden under the big butts of the utilities and oil companies. Don't think they don't have the technology because all of Tesla's papers were stolen when he died. And Westinghouse was pulling the strings there.
Go read about the monsters who destroyed Tesla. Morgan, Westinghouse, Edison, the whole lot of those demons who only want to become richer and richer, and not do an thing for anyone but their wallets.

[micheleisfree]

Just another example of the rich oppressing the poor.
What an unbelievable, irresponsible thing to say.
When gas goes up, EVERYTHING goes up.

The rich are just working on building a slave class.
If they can keep us broke, we can't revolt.

[crayzbrit]

It?s not about the $10/Gallon, it?s about being aware of how we are ruining our enviroment! I dont seem to remember this amount of complaining when the Gas engine was invented! Leave the guy alone if your not willing to support him! At least someone is trying to do something about the situation, take your frustrations to the oil companies, they are the real bandits. Tesla is breaking new ground and sure some people cant deal with change, just like the dinosaurs and look what happened to them.

[Slrman-21001573651763300012869]

$10 a gallon? I'm sure Opec and the oil companies agree with this. It would also make Tesla motors instantly successful. Would it eliminate internal combustion vehicles? Noting will do that unless a radical new energy source like cold fusion is made affordable and practical.

The real problem is heat. Any work produces heat, whether it be electrical, petroleum, or even the ever-elusive cold fusion. The real problem is too many people. Reduce the world population by 1/2 and a lot of the environmental problems go away. Many of the sociological ones, do, too.

[HighTimePilot]

Spoken like a true rich idiot who doesn't care what gas costs - he's got plenty of cash for fuel for his cars, planes, and boats. People like him are why the economy is in the tank.