Tesla’s vision of an electric car future is moving on strongly. The company revealed a number of statistics on Sunday, in commemoration of Earth Day, that show how CEO Elon Musk’s electrification efforts have resulted in big savings on carbon emissions and huge amounts of solar generation.
Tesla, which includes references to popular culture like Spaceballs in its vehicles, used a Lord of the Rings theme to put the stats in a Middle Earth context. Its vehicles have driven 7.2 billion miles — or 5,390,117 trips from Bag End to Mount Doom — while its products have saved 7.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, enough to feed 15,489 tree-looking Ents for a lifetime. Tesla’s solar offerings, which include the Tesla Solar Roof that’s providing power to San Francisco homes, have produced 10.3 billion kilowatt-hours of energy, enough to power 143,696,446 Palantíri communication stones for one year.
Working backward, Tesla’s post also provides some insight into the company’s official line on Lord of the Rings measurements. Based on the above, Sam and Frodo walked around 1,335.7 miles (around the same as the 1,350-mile figure from Imgur user Mattsawizard posted three years ago), while an Ent requires 477.8 tons of carbon dioxide in its lifetime. A Palantír uses 71.7 kilowatt-hours of energy per year, about the same amount of energy a Tesla Model S 70D uses to travel 240 miles on a single charge.
While the stats are impressive from a company perspective, they could pale in comparison to what comes next. Tesla is working to boost production of its $35,000 Model 3, and recent leaks suggest it’s producing around 2,000 per week with plans to reach 6,000 by the summer. The company currently produces around 2,000 Model S and Xs per week, meaning the car is on track to become the company’s best-selling model as it seeks to fulfill the approximately 400,000 reservations on the books.
Tesla has big plans for the future. The company is set to publish its first quarter earnings report on May 2, where analysts will grill Musk on current production rates and plans for the future.
If production continues to increase, the Ent-like trees of the real world will be pleased by the environmental benefits.
