By Gayle Mavor
Those who know Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. broker Kevan O’Connor aren’t likely to be surprised that he’d be an early adopter of an electric vehicle. On March 17 he plunked down a hefty amount for the much-hyped Tesla Model S Sedan by Tesla Motors. As some owners have pointed out, the word sedan has no place in descriptions of the sleek new vehicle, named after the original “mad scientist” Nikola Tesla, who invented, among many other things, Alternating Current (AC) electricity.
Tesla’s name was used by Tesla Motors not because of any human connection but presumably because the original inventor’s spirit seemed a good fit for the brand that Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk saw for his company. Besides, copyright on the name had expired and Tesla, the man, died in 1943.
Seventy years later, it seems only appropriate that O’Connor, an Irishman, would hedge his bets on St. Paddy’s Day, and on a car that runs on electricity at a base price of $80,000. He dished out about $125,000 to bring the silver metallic, clean, lean, “green” machine (initially launched in 2012) into his driveway. Add-ons included an upgrade to the largest battery, a sunroof, bigger tires, turbine wheels and an upgraded sound system.
“I was also one of the first owners of the Commodore 64,” O’Conner says, referring to the early home computer introduced in January 1982. It highlights his penchant for new technology from way back.
A committed BMW 7 Series owner, he was in the market for a new car when he test drove the Tesla Model S at Tesla Motors Yorkdale. “I couldn’t believe the power. The centre of gravity is really low to the ground, which delivers amazing handling.” The Tesla Model S can go from 0 – 100 km in 5.6 seconds. “All I do is plug it in at night. Typically, I’d never drive more than 150 km during a business day.” Fully charged, the car has a range of 480 km. “It’s nice to forget about gasoline, grease and oil and I won’t be burning the 3,000 litres of fuel I normally would during a business year. And clients love to be able to see and sit inside one of the most talked about cars today while they’re out finding the ‘right’ property.”
Kevan O’Conner with his Tesla Model S Sedan.
The Tesla’s 17-inch touch screen in the front console means he’s able to put mobile connectivity to work in searching for listings, checking schools, finding out about neighbourhood amenities or reviewing aerial maps on Google Maps. “And that’s before we’ve even left the car,” he says.
He highlights an app on iTunes that pretty much does everything but drive the car. “You can turn the heater on and off, open the trunk and sun roof, honk the horn and control the lights. You can see how much charge is still available and it will even let someone else track the car on Google Maps as you move from route A to route B.” Potentially, this could be an added safety feature for sales reps working alone.
The most important part of the car is underneath: the liquid-cooled, lithium ion cell battery and the power train between the back wheels.
Although there is the risk of uncertainty associated with Tesla Motor’s future, it was a risk O’Connor was willing to take. Standard & Poor has predicted Tesla Motors’ potential default by 2017 but that didn’t impede the company from borrowing an additional $2.3 billion in March 2014 from investors riding their own dreams on a back-to-the-future style car. They’re pinning their profit fantasies on Tesla’s expansion into the Chinese market, which began, albeit very slowly, in August 2013.
Back in the small village of Niagara-on-the-Lake, a lot has changed since O’Connor got his first job at a brokerage in 1971 and started his own brokerage, now Royal LePage Niagara-on-the-Lake Centre. He served on the Ontario Real Estate Association for 11 years, becoming president in 1992, and was a director for CREA for six years. His sales success admitted him to Royal LePage’s National Chairman’s Club between 2003 and 2007 and again in 2011.
Nowadays, he’s more likely to be perfecting a strategy that seeks out Tesla Superchargers from Toronto to Florida, where he spends winters with his wife while leaving the business in the hands of his son James O’ Connor.
For sales reps without the means or will to purchase an electric car, Elden Freeman, founder of the National Association of Green Agents and Brokers (NAGAB), offers a more direct plan of action for mindfully getting up to speed on “green”. Accreditation in NAGAB teaches agents about new building materials and environmental products and solutions. It helps them develop a competitive edge while doing their bit for their children’s future. Thinking about his own kids is what motivated Freeman to start the Association in 2007. It has now grown to 31,000 members.
The 17-inch touch screen in the front console allows O’Conner to put mobile connectivity to work.
He walks the talk with solar panels on his home, drives a hybrid car and has a native plant garden that requires less watering. With new building materials, updated building codes and constantly evolving building technologies, Freeman says it just makes sense for sales reps to educate themselves about “green” building. It’s the kind of knowledge that translates into profits, makes a stronger impression on clients (who he says are typically way ahead of sales reps in this type of knowledge) and enables agents to market the features of a property more convincingly.
“It’s not enough to describe a house as solar powered,” he says. “Clients want to know how it works and what difference it’s going to translate into, how it benefits the environment and what it means for their wallets.”
The courses offered through his non-profit lead to Green Agent and Green Broker certification but can be taken as one-offs and are bundled according to topic.
If you’re a sales rep who has worked out your own unique ways to be mindful of the planet, let REM know what you do to be energy efficient in your practice.
