The Real Reason The War Changes Everything For Tesla

Let’s talk about what this new conflict in Ukraine is going to mean for Tesla. Because a lot just changed in our world in a very short period of time, and we are quickly flying past the point of no return. The global power dynamic is changed. The status quo is not going to be an option on the other side of this thing. So if there is going to be a new way forward, then every person, government, and company is going to have to figure out how they fit into that changed world. Many powers of old will find that their seat at the table has been removed; not just in the political sense but in the economic reality as well. If there could be a blow that finally breaks the back of the fossil fuel industry, then we might be watching it happen right now. And that opens up space for new ideas and innovations to thrive and push the world out of these same old cycles that just keep bringing us back to destruction and war; time, after time, after time. It has to stop. 

And that’s where we see Tesla moving in the short term; to help fill that void, and start finding their voice on the global stage. Someone needs to lead the movement away from the fossil fuels that have been the root of these conflicts for decades. We can’t have peace without a transition to sustainable energy - that’s more apparent now than ever before. And that’s literally been Tesla’s mission statement from day one. Their lead is indisputable and their significance to the world going forward is about to become very apparent to anyone who is actually paying attention. 

So we try to figure out how that might play out on a global scale. Obviously we don’t know what’s going to happen in the short term, things will likely get much worse before they get better. If they ever get better. But assuming that modern society manages to pull through this, then we can make some pretty solid assumptions about what changes are gonna come. So let’s get going.

Before we get started, let’s just make it clear that the futures and fortunes of any company absolutely pale in comparison to the human suffering that is taking place right now - that’s the real story. But that’s not what we talk about on this channel, we talk about Tesla, so we're going to stay in our lane while also acknowledging the state of the world and its impacts.

Russia’s Domination of Global Fossil Fuels

The reason this is so relevant to Tesla is because Russia is a major force in the global market for fossil fuel. Russia is the third largest oil producer in the world, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia. And more importantly, Russia is the world’s largest exporter of oil to global markets. About one third of all oil imports to both Europe and the United Kingdom come from Russia. In addition, Russian natural gas also accounts for about one third of the gas supply to the European Union. Russia knows that they have this power and that’s one of the big reasons that they feel so confident that they can throw their weight around and pick on Ukraine and no one will do anything substantial to stop them.

If the nations of the world cut off trade with Russia, then they will be cutting themselves off from a major source of oil and gas that they are wholly dependent on. That wouldn’t affect all nations, but it would affect many of them, and those most affected are going to be thinking fast about potential alternatives. That alternative could be to hitch their wagon to one of the other two major producers, each coming with their own set of problems, it’s a matter of picking the least worst. Or the alternative could be to pivot away from oil and gas entirely and move in the direction of sustainable electricity to power their nations with wind, solar and batteries. Which option do you think might be the most appealing?

Admittedly, this is going to be much less of a problem for the Americas. The United States produces more than enough for all of us. Here in Canada for example, we get 77 percent of our crude oil from the United States and import zero from Russia - even before the current aggression. Not that the United States is exactly a model for peace and unity either, but we’re making the best of what we’ve got. I think our government first moved to eliminate Russian crude imports following the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. We saw this coming. The whole world should have seen this coming and made other arrangements that didn’t involve Russian imports, but everyone clung tight to the status quo even with a clear and obvious threat hanging over it. And now we are on the verge of a supply chain disaster that will overshadow anything that COVID just did to us.

For example, remember how I was just all smug about Canada not importing Russian oil? Doesn’t matter, because gasoline prices here in Ontario, the most densely populated province of Canada are set to hit record highs this week. By the time this video is published we should be nearing one $1.70 CAD per liter of fuel as an average price in this province. This would be a new record high average, by far. And for our American homies, that works out to about $5 USD per gallon, which is more expensive than California.

So even parts of the world that have no direct connection to Russia are still getting F*ed by fossil fuels because the global market is inextricably linked to Russia. So if we can’t remove Russia from fossil fuels, then we need to remove fossil fuels from our national economy so that we are no longer impacted by this madness.

I can’t think of a single company or entity that is offering a more compelling way out of this mess than Tesla. And it’s not just about electric cars, that’s one part of the equation, but this is about transitioning the world to sustainable energy. The company has been saying this for well over 10 years now, and this is the reason. All of this bullshit going on around us is the reason that Tesla has been doing literally everything that they do. Because this has to stop. And the status quo won’t stop it, the status quo made it to begin with and the status quo only makes it worse.

Electric Cars Fight Communism

Obviously driving electric cars can fix a lot of this problem. I don’t care about the price of gasoline, it’s not increasing my cost of driving. But that’s not the case for the vast majority of people. And as all of those people are angrily pumping over-priced gasoline into their cars and watching me cruise past them in a Tesla, what thought do you think is going to pop into their head? They're going to want to ditch the gas station and get that Tesla. Or at least some kind of an electric car. 

Unfortunately, Tesla is the only automaker in the world that can mass produce electric vehicles at high volumes, and they just can’t make enough to go around. This situation is going to get better in the short term, with two brand new manufacturing plants coming online right now, as we speak. And word is getting around that a new Tesla plant is about to begin construction in Shanghai, China. But Tesla still won’t be able to supply enough cars to meet demand any time in the next several years - especially now that gasoline is becoming an unsustainable fuel source - it won’t matter if an electric car is 10 grand more expensive than a gasoline car, at this rate, you’ll get the money back in the first year just through fuel savings. Money wasted on gasoline could be going into our economies, supporting small business, funding the art and culture in our cities, instead it’s all being funneled away into the pockets of the 1 percent.

The real tragedy is that the demand for electric vehicles will continue to go unmet because none of the other automakers care. Volkswagen is the closest to actually giving a shit and even they’re half assing the transition to electric. Honestly, the damage done to the global economy and to the environment by companies like GM that willingly sandbagged electric vehicle technology all along the way should be criminal at this point. The fact that we’re sitting here in 2022 pinning all our hopes on one single company to provide the world with electric cars is a sad state of affairs. But at least we have that company. If not for Tesla we’d be so irreversibly F*ed right now.

Sustainable Electricity Grids

Now, electric cars can only fix so much. The root of the problem is where that electricity comes from in the first place. Because if your local power plant is burning coal or natural gas then we still have a problem there. Even if your primary generating station does not burn fossil fuel, you might still have natural gas fired ‘peaker plants’ that come on intermittently to support the grid during high usage periods - that’s also got to go.

The solution to this is of course going to be renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. But those are not effective on their own - because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. So we need large scale battery storage facilities to regulate that power, the batteries charge up during times of high production and they discharge to the grid during periods of low production. Green energy does not work without these big batteries. And of course, Tesla is the number one global producer of grid scale energy storage products. The Tesla Megapack is used all around the world to store and regulate massive amounts of energy. These battery facilities are already starting to replace natural gas peaker plants in California. They’re being used to stabilize the grid in Texas to protect against another multi day blackout. And they’ve been used extensively in Southern Australia for years to eliminate roving blackouts and drive down the price of electricity for consumers.

Because this is the great thing about green energy, not only does it protect the environment and fight the communists, but it is also very cheap - and that’s going to help us get off of natural gas for home use. I don’t know what the deal is in warmer climates, but up here in the frozen North, pretty much every house uses natural gas for heat. Some others use propane for heat, or oil or burn wood pellets… but pretty much no one uses electric heating because it’s just too damn expensive. That’s a problem. We have to stop burning shit. It’s really bad for the environment and it’s unsustainable to be importing and exporting and transporting all of this fuel. The only way we accomplish this is by driving down the price of electricity, and the only way we do that is with green, renewable energy.

And then we can dial that down even further with home energy, cutting your house off from the dirty grid entirely and using your own sustainable energy - at that point Russia can’t do shit. But this is also not going to be affordable for most people with houses, it’s not even going to be possible for those who live in towers. But for many, this is going to be the path to true energy freedom. And of course, Tesla has already got this one covered as well. Through the combination of Tesla solar panels integrated into your roof, and home based Tesla Powerwall energy storage, the average house can become its own power plant - an island of sustainable energy. Or they could even work together to create a community of sustainable energy. Tesla has this idea of a decentralized power plant consisting of multiple homes with solar and battery storage, and instead of being cut off from the grid, they could actually feed into the grid to support it at times of great demand or instability - take natural disasters or heat waves for example. That’s the kind of possibilities that we open up with sustainable energy - growth, independence, freedom, peace…

All that fossil fuels bring us are war, destruction, disaster, pollution, death and disease. We can’t even make the argument anymore that it’s cheap or convenient. There is no future on this path.

Luckily for us, there’s still a way out. There’s an alternative path that’s already been cut for us by a company that had the guts to go against the status quo and never gave in to the old way.

If we make it through whatever this turns out to be, a Russian war or a world war, then there is going to be one very clear leader that can help us build a better world, and I can’t imagine that being anyone other than Tesla.