The launch of the new Tesla Model 3 would not have happened were it not for the brave and passionate purchasers of the earlier, far more expensive, Tesla cars.

The Tesla Model 3, a superior performance electric car for a relatively affordable price, marks a new milestone in the development of electric vehicles. But it would not be here without the monetary and emotional investment of the early adopters.

These people, keen to be in at the start, the first to own the latest product, to use the top of the range, coolest kit are essential to developing new, experimental and innovative products. Without their enthusiasm and daring to try out new and creative developments things would never get off the drawing board and onto the market.

We need inventive green technologies, products and services to design us away from our dependence on fossil fuels and our wasteful use of resources, to create new paths towards sustainability. And we need early adopters to support their development until they are suitable for normal budgets and the mass market.

We owe early adopters a debt of gratitude. So the next time you meet someone pleased as punch, showing off their exciting new, hot off the production line, gadget or gizmo, resist the urge to think, ‘You show off!’ and try to think ‘Well done, how brave, what a contribution you’re making to inventiveness.’ Without courageous early adopters we’d never have developed the car, let alone the Tesla Model 3.

When it comes to new and inventive products, what kind of a consumer are you?

Take our poll and add your comments to let us know how keen you are to be at the heart of the start.

By Biba Hartigan