Lessons from An Early Tech Adopter: Why Everyone Will be Driving an EV Soon
I would consider myself a techie and an early adopter. I follow emerging technologies and have always sought to have the latest and greatest in new tech. The upside of being an early adopter is that I have become adept at navigating new technologies and shown my agility when it comes to embracing new ways of working and playing. The downside is that newly released products are expensive and often buggy.
Years ago I was quoted in the book EPowerment: Achieving Empowerment in the E World by Dr. Izzy Justice. Dr. Justice asked me and several other thought leaders to share our wisdom as to what it will take to successfully navigate the next decade as a leader. My answer was as follows:
A critical characteristic for success in the future will be personal agility. Agility encompasses the concept of change readiness with speed. In the past, being open to new ideas and wiling to change was enough. In the future, the speed with which individuals anticipate and adapt to change will be a major differentiator of those who excel and those who just survive.
It used to be that people who enjoyed working with computer and technology were geeks. Today, and more importantly, in the future being tech savvy will be a requirement. Leaders need to understand technologies available to them both in the form of smart phones and desktop applications. These efficiency tools can be game changers. Those who embrace technology and learn to leverage technology to their personal advantage will come out the winners.
The investor mentality. As a leader, be an investor. Focus on increasing your market value by constantly providing additional value. When making career choices, think of each job as an investment in your future potential.
Each of these suggestions are as relevant or even more relevant today as they were when I originally shared them in the book in 2010. Today I work with several startups as an executive coach and an advisor. One of the biggest challenges that I see these companies face is the adoption of their solutions because people are resistant to change and to new ways of doing things. While the hardware and software might be superior, human behavior is hard to change. Building a strong business case for why these new solutions will benefit an organization or an individual are the biggest hurdles for startups to overcome.
Once a new technology is adopted, it is very hard to imagine going back to the way things used to be done. I am a car guy. I love cars and over the years I have owned four cars in model year one. Some say it is a mistake to purchase a vehicle in the first year of production, but as an early adopter I have always desired the latest and greatest.
In 1993 not long after Chrysler purchased the Jeep brand they introduced the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I bought a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee new off the lot. The SUV was awesome. It included an advanced four wheel drive system, anti-lock brakes and unique modern styling. The vehicle was awesome and fortunately I had very few issues with the vehicle. I drove it for several years and put over 100K miles on it. In 2006, I purchased a Pontiac Solstice. I placed an order for the vehicle sight unseen. The car had been featured on the show, The Apprentice (Donald Trump) and was a concept car that entered production. While the Solstice sounded great on paper and looked cool. It was crap. It turned out to be the worst car I have ever owned. I drove it for a year before selling it. Not all new technologies are a hit. Pontiac produced the Solstice for four years before discontinuing it. In 2011, Range Rover released the Range Rover Evoque. A sporty small SUV with cool styling and lots of tech. I bought a unique two door version of the Evoque. It was a great vehicle. It looked awesome, drove great and had off road ability. The Evoque had cool touch screen technologies, great Bluetooth and great styling. Once out of warranty at 55k miles the vehicle began to have mechanical issues. It was time to part with it. This was disappointing because of the coolness factor. In 2017 I purchased a Volvo V90 Cross Country T6 Polestar wagon. This was the first year of production for this amazing wagon. The Polestar version features over 320 HP, amazing technology and a Bower and Wilkins sound system which might be the most premium sound system in any vehicle. The Volvo is an impressive vehicle. Since Geely, the Chinese company bought Volvo they have produced some awesome cars.
Fast forward to today, the Volvo is for sale (Link to CarGurus) and I recently went all electric. I bought a Tesla Model X. It is not a first year vehicle. In fact, the 2020 Tesla Model X is in the fifth year of production. The Model X is by far and away the best vehicle I have ever owned. It is the equivalent of moving from a flip phone to a current version iPhone. The vehicle is light years ahead of any combustion engine vehicle on the road. There are so many skeptics out there who worry about range anxiety and whether or not Tesla will survive. I believe most of those naysayers are just reluctant to change. Once anyone test drives a Tesla, they are instantly hooked. The instant acceleration, the efficiency of the regenerative brakes, the 17” touchscreen, the car tech, the zero emissions and so much more make the Tesla superior to all gas cars. I am fully convinced that the future is electric.
Marques Brownlee the YouTube star was recently interviewed by CNET about technologies and asked an interesting question. “What’s the most archaic tech still in use today?” His answer was a bit surprising, but very valid.
“It is funny that when you drive an electric car, a lot of regular cars seem archaic. When you are driving a regular car it doesn’t seem archaic, but as soon as you switch over, you look at all of the other cars choices and you are like wow, if there were chargers everywhere everyone would switch. So I am going to go wild and say every single car.”
Much like all other technologies that must reach a tipping point before they go mainstream, electric vehicles are nearing that inflection point. People must see a compelling reason to adopt a new technology. As an early adopter, I question why it took me four years to move to an electric vehicle. Was it price, was it concern over the dependability of the new technology or was it a resistance to change that has crept into my psyche as I have grown older. I am not sure, but now that I have moved to an electric vehicle, I have no regrets. I am a fanboy and would like to convince you to test drive an EV. Once you do I am quite confident that you will understand the merits and question why you are still driving an archaic polluting gas vehicle.
I recently attended CES in Las Vegas. The 2020 show featured a plethora of electric vehicles. It was cool to see the future and how electric vehicles are going mainstream.
Embrace the future. It will bring you more success in your personal and professional lives.