Arcandra Is Shocked When He Visits A Tesla-like Company In Silicon Valley: How Come There Aren't Any Signs That It's An Automotive Company?

JAKARTA - The Tesla electric car production development center is located in Silicon Valley, California, United States. In fact, Tesla is an automotive genre company that should take a place in the automotive industry area and not in the world's IT center region. Why is that?

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) for the 2016-2019 period Arcandra Tahar has another review regarding the corporation owned by billionaire Elon R. Musk. In his view, Arcandra said this was Tesla's clever strategy in widening the distance with competitors who wanted to be in the same segmentation.

"Elon Musk is very smart ... he (Tesla) will be difficult to catch up with competitors who are just about to enter electric vehicle (EV) technology," he said via the official Instagram page @ archandra.tahar recently.

Arcandra's narrative about Tesla originated from his experience when he received an invitation to visit a technology center set up by an EV company from outside the US in Silicon Valley, California. During his visit, he was surprised because there was no sign that the location he was traveling to was intended for an automobile company.

"During our visit we did not find a team designing the body, suspense, steering systems and brakes. What we met was an office with various electronic circuits with the latest integrated circuit chip supported by reliable programmers and of course added with electric motor components, "he said.

In the mind of the former bureaucrat, the wild question arises, do EV companies no longer care about the aerodynamics of a car? Then, how is the strength of the car frame that ensures safety and maneuverability?

"The strategy of an EV company that builds its technology center in Silicon Valley is not much different from what Tesla did at its inception. Tesla, did not set up a technology and manufacturing center in Detroit, Michigan which has been a center of excellence of the US auto industry for more than a century, but prefers Silicon Valley, "he said.

"We suspect that Tesla needs a number of strategic aspects to build its products, such as the best talents in IT with a work culture that has been proven to produce technology that changes world civilization, such as Google and Apple," he continued.

Another aspect described by Arcandra is that Silicon Valley can be used as a guarantee to ensure that the funding aspect of electric cars can be maintained. The reason is, the electric technology embedded in the Tesla car is still in the development process. And, Silicon Valley is the perfect place to attract investors with a large risk profile.

"Venture capitalists are willing to measure breakthrough ideas and also dare to invest in companies such as high-risk startups," he said.

Then, what is the difference between conventional car technology and electric cars?

Broadly speaking, electric car technology only replaces about 30 percent of conventional car components. The rest, namely 70 percent, is mature technology that is already available on the market, so it does not require in-depth research.

"It is reasonable to suspect that Tesla's strategy was read by other EV companies that set up their technology centers in Silicon Valley. They then bring their research results to their home countries to be developed, "he added.

"Currently these countries are competing directly in the development of EV technology, not waiting," concluded Arcandra.