Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Cars Will Be Ubiquitous in 25 Years: Ron Baron

If Ron Baron is to be believed, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Elon Musk will have way more customers than it already has in 25 years.

In fact, Baron believes that so many will buy vehicles made by Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the next two and a half decades that he predicts “All of us will likely be Tesla customers in 25 years,” CleanTechnica reports.

In an interview on CNBC, Baron said that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is his Baron Capital’s “24th largest investment right now. It’s about $240 million or $250 million. As I mentioned to you, I think we’re going to make 10 times our money in the next 10 years.”

The investor said that he likes Tesla even though they are a relatively-young company that is also experiencing some delays because the company’s opportunity is not in making 35,000 cars on their way to making 100,000 cars a year. He said that the opportunity for the company is to make 100 million cars a year.

He said that in a decade, the company may do 1 to 2 million cars a year but that it could ultimately be as big as an automaker that produces 10 million cars in 15 years.

He noted that at the start of the automotive boom in 1910, there were 4,000 cars in the U.S. These cars, he said, were powered by steam, electricity and steam. He also said that Henry Ford actually liked electric cars more but the cheaper gasoline won because of its cost compared to electricity. Electricity is now cheaper than gasoline, he said.

Baron also said that the only reason why the electric car is not becoming more prevalent at a faster rate is that big automotive companies don’t want it to. These companies have massive investments in making fossil fuel cars, he noted. Unions also don’t want to make electric cars because they are simpler to make and would result in fewer jobs. Dealers are also against electric cars because companies like Tesla sell directly to customers.

John Thaler’s Jat Capital Management reported owning 948,778 Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares by the end of the recently-ended quarter.