There are a lot of really shitty people who have done very good things for science, technology, and humanity throughout history. Elon Musk is inarguably a really shitty person, but he has also been at the center of multiple efforts that materially accelerated technology and improved human capability.
Tesla was one of the biggest forces in dragging EVs out of the fringe and into the mainstream. The IEA projected around 17 million EV sales in 2024, more than one-fifth of all new cars sold worldwide, and the EPA notes that EVs typically have a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline cars even after accounting for battery manufacturing and charging electricity. (IEA)
Battery technology and grid-level storage matter far beyond cars. The IEA notes that grid-scale battery storage has scaled rapidly in recent years and is expected to account for most storage growth worldwide, which is a major part of making grids more stable and better able to absorb renewable power. (IEA)
On self-driving, the honest version is not “he solved autonomy,” because fully self-driving consumer cars are still not here. IIHS says Level 4 and 5 vehicles are not available to consumers for purchase, but Tesla has absolutely helped force driver-assistance and autonomy into the center of the industry and push deployment at huge real-world scale; Tesla says its supervised FSD system is trained on data from a fleet of over six million vehicles. (IIHS)
Then there is space. SpaceX made rocket reusability real at operational scale, and NASA has explicitly described reusability as a path to driving launch costs down. Lower launch costs and higher launch cadence directly expand access to space for communications, Earth observation, scientific missions, and the long-term path toward becoming a genuinely spacefaring civilization. (NASA Technical Reports Server)
Starlink also matters. The FCC authorized SpaceX’s broadband satellite system to provide broadband service, and that kind of global satellite internet has obvious real-world value for remote and underserved areas and for resilience when terrestrial infrastructure is unavailable. (Federal Communications Commission)
So no, being a shitty person does not erase the fact that the companies he drove helped accelerate EV adoption, battery storage, launch reusability, satellite internet, and the broader push toward a more electrified, connected, and space-capable civilization. You can hate the man and still admit the net technological impact is very large.
There are a lot of really shitty people who have done very good things for science, technology, and humanity throughout history. Elon Musk is inarguably a really shitty person, but he has also been at the center of multiple efforts that materially accelerated technology and improved human capability.
Tesla was one of the biggest forces in dragging EVs out of the fringe and into the mainstream. The IEA projected around 17 million EV sales in 2024, more than one-fifth of all new cars sold worldwide, and the EPA notes that EVs typically have a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline cars even after accounting for battery manufacturing and charging electricity. (IEA)
Battery technology and grid-level storage matter far beyond cars. The IEA notes that grid-scale battery storage has scaled rapidly in recent years and is expected to account for most storage growth worldwide, which is a major part of making grids more stable and better able to absorb renewable power. (IEA)
On self-driving, the honest version is not “he solved autonomy,” because fully self-driving consumer cars are still not here. IIHS says Level 4 and 5 vehicles are not available to consumers for purchase, but Tesla has absolutely helped force driver-assistance and autonomy into the center of the industry and push deployment at huge real-world scale; Tesla says its supervised FSD system is trained on data from a fleet of over six million vehicles. (IIHS)
Then there is space. SpaceX made rocket reusability real at operational scale, and NASA has explicitly described reusability as a path to driving launch costs down. Lower launch costs and higher launch cadence directly expand access to space for communications, Earth observation, scientific missions, and the long-term path toward becoming a genuinely spacefaring civilization. (NASA Technical Reports Server)
Starlink also matters. The FCC authorized SpaceX’s broadband satellite system to provide broadband service, and that kind of global satellite internet has obvious real-world value for remote and underserved areas and for resilience when terrestrial infrastructure is unavailable. (Federal Communications Commission)
So no, being a shitty person does not erase the fact that the companies he drove helped accelerate EV adoption, battery storage, launch reusability, satellite internet, and the broader push toward a more electrified, connected, and space-capable civilization. You can hate the man and still admit the net technological impact is very large.
Sources:
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2024/trends-in-electric-cars
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths
https://www.iea.org/energy-system/electricity/grid-scale-storage
https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/advanced-driver-assistance
https://www.tesla.com/fsd
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20160013370/downloads/20160013370.pdf
https://nstxl.org/reducing-the-cost-of-space-travel-with-reusable-launch-vehicles/
https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-authorizes-spacex-provide-broadband-satellite-services
https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-approves-next-gen-satellite-constellation