Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is planning a drastic expansion of his company, with plans to expand his electric vehicle product line, introduce self-driving auto capability and more.
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Some 10 years after releasing Part One of the Tesla Master Plan, Elon Musk has released “Part Deux”, which will see the American firm venture into a host of new markets.
Musk discussed the products in his much-anticipated “master plan” for the company, which was posted on Tesla’s website Wednesday night.
What’s more, though, Tesla said it plans to launch a mobility service that lets Tesla owners share their vehicle when they aren’t using it, and make money from it. That way, you could use it to generate income while you’re at work or on vacation.
This updated plan comes just months after the company unveiled its Model 3 auto at a cost of $35,000.
Essentially a What’s next for Tesla, the new report outlines how Musk plans to further evolve the company and how Tesla will work towards goals and how these goals connect, which was the reason for the original Tesla Model 3 plan. Tesla is also developing heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport. He also highlighted a key interior design aspect of the Tesla busses – “eliminating the centre aisle and putting seats where there are now entryways”.
But Tesla’s reputation has been hit by a fatal crash involving its self-driving system in Florida, and another crash in Pennsylvania, prompting federal safety investigations.
In short, Tesla envisages a future where autonomous electric vehicles are being built in solar-powered factories and bought by people living in solar-powered, energy-independent homes, then shared by these people with others, perhaps while they ride on a self-driving electric bus. Tesla on June 22 filed applications to use the Tesla name for solar energy systems and services, such as monitoring solar panels. It was Musk’s second such manifesto; he released the first in 2006, when Tesla was first starting out and hadn’t yet sold its first auto, the Tesla Roadster.
Musk also talked about Tesla’s production facility, describing how the brand’s engineering has transitioned to focus heavily on designing the “machine that makes the machine”, meaning that the factory itself becomes a product.
As for the energy needed to power those cars, Musk made the case for his proposed merger of Tesla, which also builds energy storage systems, and Solar City, the solar panel company he co-founded and chairs.
As nearly all cars are used only for about 10 per cent of the day, Musk believes the “fundamental economic utility of a true self-driving vehicle is likely to be several times that of a auto which is not”.
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Musk said he envisions Tesla owners allowing others to use their vehicles through a smartphone application.
