Look, I do know that there are various factors to contemplate in enterprise, and I don’t know all the explanations behind Tesla’s change. Nonetheless, the very first thing that got here to thoughts once I noticed that Tesla had modified the free colour for a brand new automotive from white to darkish gray was that it was a foul transfer for the local weather. Maybe that’s not what jumped out to everybody else, however having coated cleantech and local weather change professionally for roughly 14 years, this got here to thoughts instantly. That stated, after additional consideration, I don’t truly know what the local weather implications of the change are. Let me clarify. …

As you could have seen, there’s been quite a lot of analysis displaying that white roofs might help quiet down city environments and even the local weather a bit. It’s a easy resolution with quite a lot of influence. We wrote about this resolution a minimum of way back to 2011 when Invoice Clinton was urging individuals with darkish roofs to color them white, and I personally wrote about it in 2012 when it was discovered that white roofs cooled NYC flats an awesome deal. Extra lately, final month, Steve coated analysis highlighting the advantages of white roofs.

So, with that logic in thoughts, it appears that evidently white automobiles would provide related warmth and local weather advantages, proper? Nicely, as somebody who lives in Florida, I can let you know that having the white paint and white seats on a Tesla Mannequin 3 makes the automotive faaaaaaaaar cooler than a Mannequin 3 with darkish gray paint and black seats. I had one of many latter for half a day and couldn’t consider how a lot hotter it was. For sure, purely for consolation, I’d by no means desire a darkish automotive with darkish seats in Florida.

Nonetheless, one thing else got here to thoughts as I got here to write down this text. What about chilly climates? You most likely need to soak up warmth and keep away from having to make use of the heater as a lot in chilly climates, so you might have considered trying darkish colours there. Nonetheless, with little sunshine within the chilly, how a lot does the darker colour truly assist to soak up warmth? Additionally, usually talking, analysis recommends white roofs for much less warmth and decrease CO2 emissions, and as you could have observed above, NYC isn’t within the South. For positive, the white colours are even higher for the south, and it’s certainly heat and sunny states that lead Tesla gross sales within the US — California, Florida, and Texas. So, general, I nonetheless assume that altering the “free” colour from white to darkish gray is a foul transfer climate-wise. Lots of people will merely select the most affordable colour — I’ve heard quite a few individuals say that about their purchases.

What do you say? Is altering from white to “Midnight Silver” (darkish gray) a foul transfer at a time after we hold seeing record-hot days? Or is it not an enormous deal and I’m being a bit excessive right here?

Additionally, extra broadly, did Tesla make the change as a result of there are soooooooo many white Teslas on the roads now (there are in Florida) and Tesla/Elon Musk is anxious that they’re getting too widespread and — dare we are saying — boring? Or are there different advantages to switching to “Midnight Silver” and giving white the shaft?

Replace: I spotted after publishing that individuals may wish to understand how a lot additional it prices to get a colour aside from gray (Midnight Silver Metallic). So, within the US, these are the additional prices for various colours for the Mannequin 3 or Mannequin Y:

• White (Pearl White Multi-Coat) — $1000
• Blue (Deep Blue Metallic ) — $1000
• Black (Stable Black) — $1500
• Purple (Purple Multi-Coat) — $2000

The Mannequin S and Mannequin X have greater costs for the non-free colours. However, truthfully, if you’re shopping for a Mannequin S or Mannequin X, I don’t assume a pair thousand {dollars} actually issues to you.

I do not like paywalls. You do not like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Right here at CleanTechnica, we applied a restricted paywall for some time, nevertheless it at all times felt mistaken — and it was at all times powerful to determine what we must always put behind there. In idea, your most unique and greatest content material goes behind a paywall. However then fewer individuals learn it! We simply do not like paywalls, and so we have determined to ditch ours.

Sadly, the media enterprise continues to be a troublesome, cut-throat enterprise with tiny margins. It is a endless Olympic problem to remain above water and even maybe — gasp — develop. So …