We’ve watched with great interest the evolution and introduction of Tesla Motors Model S Electric Sedan. Firstly, it flies in the face of conventional wisdom which dictates electric cars being small, slow, unable to travel long distances and expensive to fuel. The four door Model S can reach maximum speeds of 200 km/h, can travel a range of 250 - 480 kilometers (depending upon the size of the battery) per charge, and only costs USD 4 to fully charge.
As Seth H. Weintraub of Computerworld notes, “The car is a model of inspiration to a dying domestic car industry.”
Secondly, and equally exciting is the possibility to immediately sell complementary offerings. As the Fourth Path of Blue Ocean Strategy demonstrates, by looking across complementary offerings companies can create blue oceans by zeroing-in on new types of offerings that add new dimensions of value to their current product or service — even new offerings that are well outside their traditional industry boundaries.
And while one may not typically associate Google with the auto industry, Weintraub points out that the Tesla Model S could potentially become the next “Google Car,” complete with:
- Google Maps for directions
- Google Android as the operating system for running the car
- Google voice for voice-guided commands
- Google AdSense with location based advertising results for finding local shopping and restaurants
- Google Reader and news feeds for a bit of entertainment
“That's just the beginning,” writes Weintraub, “Google has their hands on what could be the most revolutionary vehicle of the millennium, if they put those big brains to work on what automobile consumers want, they'll likely come up with things that make other cars seem ... so last century.”
Related articles:
Breaking the speed record Blue Ocean Strategy style
SUVs go the way of Pompeii
[Image Chicagoist.]
