In 2006, Elon Musk unveiled his “Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan” a decade-long strategy that could be summed up as:
Build sports car
Use that money to build an affordable car
Use that money to build an even more affordable car
While doing the above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options
Now, ten years later, Musk is back with part two. You can read it here.
The gist is:
Create stunning solar roof with seamlessly integrated battery storage
Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments
Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
Enable your car to make money for you when you aren’t using it
Musk’s plan offers a closer look at how Tesla aims to break into the solar energy business with the proposed acquisition of Solar City. That $2.8 billion or so deal temporarily rattled investors when it was announced in June, but Musk, charisma cranked up to 11, says he believes the deal will “pass by a two-thirds majority,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Tesla CEO also offered a vision for his company’s participation in the burgeoning sharing economy, for which he assumes that true self-driving will ultimately be approved by regulators.
He predicts “you will be able to summon your Tesla from pretty much anywhere. Once it picks you up, you will be able to sleep, read, or do anything else en route to your destination.”
In this scenario, there would also be a Tesla shared fleet that allows owners, with the tap of a button on the Tesla mobile app, to rent out their cars when they’re not in use. “This dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where almost anyone could own a Tesla. Since most cars are only in use by their owner for 5% to 10% of the day, the fundamental economic utility of a true self-driving car is likely to be several times that of a car which is not,” Musk wrote.
In addition to the idea of the Tesla shared fleet, Musk also sees the creation of a Tesla-owned fleet of vehicles for “cities where demand exceeds the supply of customer-owned cars … ensuring you can always hail a ride from us no matter where you are.”
For days leading up to this announcement, Musk had teased the release of his updated master plan — which was delayed by a SpaceX rocket launch and possibly also by the Tesla Autopilot controversy — leaving Tesla fans salivating for details.