{"id":8251,"date":"2018-09-04T09:14:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T09:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/?p=8251"},"modified":"2021-01-23T09:19:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T09:19:43","slug":"not-a-tesla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/not-a-tesla\/","title":{"rendered":"Not a Tesla"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am listening through the Elon Musk biography<\/a> on my commute into work, hearing about the inner workings of SpaceX and Tesla with a growing disconnect with my experience of my 1970 VW Karmann Ghia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not difficult to imagine how engineering feats that currently seem incredible will soon be taken for granted: uploading software fixes to vehicles overnight, never paying for fuel again, not worrying about noise or air pollution, and significantly reduced oil dependency. These seem foreign but conceivable as I am propelled down the road sitting on a series of finely tuned explosions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Ghia provides nostolgia, but that will be lost in a few generations. I wonder if tomorrow\u2019s grandchildren will reminisce about the feel of a vehicle touch screen or laugh when they think of people getting a driver\u2019s licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warmth of my nostalgia goes cold when my windscreen wipers stop at the same time as my dash light. Running a quick diagnostic in my 46 year old mind-frame points to a blown fuse.  I stop by the one VW mechanic I know on the north side who pops in a temporary, hop into the car parts place who does not carry an 8 amp in the size I need, so I head on over to the electronics store who has some make-shift options that should do the trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am going to drive my car on a national tour of innovation hubs<\/a> as part of my PhD research project. I was of two minds, either getting a modern car to showcase automotive innovation, or driving the Ghia as a point of bringing the past into the future. I am going for the latter, in part because it is fun to drive, iconic, and a reflection of my past trips across the US in a similar car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, I am increasingly aware that the car and the entire supply chain that made it possible will soon be gone. I look forward to helping us all understand how we can better transition to what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am listening through the Elon Musk biography on my commute into work, hearing about the inner workings of SpaceX and Tesla with a growing disconnect with… Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"ecosystem_role":[233],"class_list":["post-8251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-me","ecosystem_role-research","bwp-masonry-item","bwp-col-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t