The Tesla Roadster: The Art of turning Green into Red

"Green" products face the challenge that while they are friendly to the environment they usually lack the aesthetics to attract a wide-group of buyers that are not primarily interested in the green aspects of the product.

The challenge is to make "green", environmentally friendly products attractive by designing them so that customers can develop passion and delight for these products.

IDEO partner Diego Rodriguez, describes this challenge of turning green into red in an article in the NZZ Folio (weekly magazine of the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the article asked where the next millionaires will come from).

What I find most dazzling these days are people working to change environmentally-focused products from being merely "green" to being what I like to call "red" as well.

Too many green products, such as the Prius hybrid, are the modern-day equivalent of a hairshirt. While undoubtedly morally and ethically rewarding to own, they lack a certain je ne sais quoi when it comes to providing the kind of visceral delights which bring pleasure to our monkey brains. Something red, on the other hand, feels more like a Ferrari, overflowing with wonderful sounds, scents and physical sensations which forge the kind of emotional connections that keep you coming back for more.

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Red is about passion and delight, and we need more of it in our green products if they’re going to pull people away from existing, non-green solutions. Emotional connections will be, and always have been, worth millions.

One great example of "turning green into red" is the Tesla Roadster, a fully electronic sports car produced by Tesla Motors.

Yet a nice picture is not enough to get an understanding if an electronic car can really come up with the expectations that customers put into a sportscar – no matter whether it is powered by gasoline or by electricity.

Taking an actual test drive might be difficult because there are still not that many cars around, still Jason Calacanis, founder of Weblogs Inc., took the Tesla on a test drive and recorded the whole experience. See for yourself:

After watching this video I was impressed: because I just saw a real example of turning green into red. The experience about doing something good for the environment is one part, but building an experience that is "green" and improves your status is a totally new experience.

Image courtesy of dreamymo