Will the Tesla Model X Become the First Mainstream Electric Car?

Neal Ungerleider provides a dispatch from the recent revealing of the new Tesla X to make a point about the mainstreaming of electric cars into American culture: "Tesla, and to a far lesser extent other high-end fully-electric cars like the BMW i3 and Mercedes-Benz electric B, are the standard-bearers for electric cars in the mass consciousness, writes Ungerleider. "But the future doesn’t belong to Tesla…. It belongs to far cheaper, mass-market electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Ford Focus."

Although electric cars are currently only available to affluent consumers, and only feasible along heavily traveled routes, that gap could be closing. So, for instance, "Sources at the Kelley Blue Book, a car pricing guide, told Fast Company that prices for electric vehicles declined 9.7% compared to 2014, while prices for cars in general had actually increased 1.2%."

According to Ungerleider's argument, the marketing campaign connected to the crossover appeal of the new Model X, might soon get an extra push from global economic events that lead to a rise in oil prices. That might be all it takes for electric cars to finally, fully enter the mainstream.