The Outsider
Elon Musk wasn’t sure if he could work within the three
areas that in the future will most affect the future of hu-
manity. No matter what Elon is working with, he believes
he can affect the world in a positive way by working with
it, and he believes that’s the most important factor when
founding a new company. But he added that it wouldn’t
hurt if he also could make money from his endeavors.
While studying, Elon became interested in electric ve-
hicles because they can save the world from its dependency
on oil. Now when he had graduated he wanted to create a
new battery for these vehicles. To create this new battery,
he needed to use the laboratories at the Stanford University,
California. So in 1995, Elon began a PhD graduate program
in materials science & applied physics. His thesis idea
was to use advanced chip making equipment to create a
solid state capacitor with enough energy density for use
in electric cars. “High-energy physics is where some major
technical revolutions are going to come from,” Elon said.
“By getting down to the quantum plane, it’s going to make
much more power available more cheaply and with less
pollution.”^265
The PhD degree itself wasn’t important to Elon. What
he wanted was the results of the research. His goal was to
replace a traditional battery with a new super-battery that
can charge in a matter of seconds. Such a battery would