• Tesla Motors co-founder and CEO Elon Musk. Picture: BLOOMBERG

  • Tesla Motors Model X electric sports-utility vehicle. Picture: REUTERS/STEPHEN LAM

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THE acceleration of a Ferrari, the silence of a bicycle, the capacity of an SUV, safer than a Merc — I have seen the future, and driven it. You will be driving an electric car sooner than you think.

It will not be a "hybrid" that combines the worst of all worlds mechanically, economically and environmentally. Nor a glorified golf cart impersonating a car that drives you slowly for short distances. It will be a super-fast, safe, clean, long-range computerised car. It will be maintenance-free because it has almost no moving parts. It will be a Tesla or a derivative.

Tesla is the first serious threat to internal combustion engines since Henry Ford’s cars outperformed steam and electric vehicles a century ago. In 1900, 40% of US cars were powered by steam, 38% by electricity and 22% by petrol.

Tesla’s creator, Elon Musk, is a former South African and international luminary, almost unknown in his native country. He is one of many great South Africans driven away by crazy policies — apartheid military conscription in his case. Pioneering the world’s leading internet payment system, PayPal, ensured his first fortune, which he lost in a subsequent venture.

He was forced to sleep on a friend’s couch when conceiving his next hit, SolarCity, the second-largest provider of solar systems in the US. Its recently patented wall-mounted solar-charged battery could enable South Africans to commit Eskom to the trash heap of apartheid history, where it belongs.

One of Musk’s projects considers the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence making computers and robots brighter than people, and being capable of ruling us.

His SpaceX company put the first private satellite into orbit and intends settling people on Mars. Musk’s Tesla car has mainstream media comparing him with Henry Ford.

I have been driving a Tesla around Los Angeles. Its acceleration of 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds compares with the fastest sports cars. I will drive 450km to Las Vegas tomorrow. After an initial charge off a wall plug, the car will need only a free, 20-minute charge during a lunch break.

It has large front and rear luggage compartments where other cars have fuel tanks, engines, radiators, transmission systems and pumps.

Several thousand tiny lithium-ion batteries beneath a flat floor give it the lowest and safest centre of gravity. Its silent and powerful electric motor is so small it is hard to find.

As there is almost nothing to leak or break, it has an eight-year, unlimited mileage warranty.

Brakes last many years because resistance when you lift your foot off the accelerator stops the car and charges the batteries. There are no gears. Everything is computer operated. The car cannot be stolen for long because any cellphone can track its whereabouts.

There is no ignition switch. It unlocks and locks when drivers approach and leave.

Drivers never enter hot or cold cars because a smartphone app can set the car’s inside temperature remotely. A huge touch screen does what an iPad does and more. The car understands voice commands.

The operator’s manual is built into the touch and voice command system.

There are no scheduled services because centralised computers monitor all cars and owners are told if repairs or new tyres are needed. Tesla will fetch cars and return them within hours. Software updates are installed remotely. Tesla is Consumer Reports’s highest-scoring car yet.

The implications are hard to comprehend. We could see the demise of car dealers, filling stations and motor mechanics.

Prepare yourself for a transport revolution that might affect the car industry in the way combustion engines affected horse breeders, blacksmiths, saddlers and carriage makers.

• Louw is executive director of the Free Market Foundation