In his blog titled Master Plan, Part Deux, Musk also talks about the advent of autonomy.
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TECH BILLIONAIRE ELON Musk has outlined his plans for the next ten years including a system that would allow cars to make money for their owners when they’re not using it. Tesla intends to create a “smoothly integrated” solar-plus-storage product that will be available through one service contact. “He was a friend to Tesla and the broader community, a person who spent his life focused on innovation and the promise of technology and who believed strongly in Tesla’s mission”.
Tesla also recently announced that vehicle shipments didn’t reach projected levels in the second quarter.
During the first half of this year, Musk had been fighting battles on multiple fronts – trouble meeting production goals, fallout from the first fatality involving a self-driving Model S in May, pointed questions about the reliability of the Autopilot technology, and suggestions that Tesla withheld key information from investors – to which Musk promptly called “BS.” Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all the main segments. Musk has also made a decision to merge SolarCity with the Tesla Power Wall division – combining energy generation with storage for residential and business consumers. The CEO did not reveal more details about such a product, but Tesla is hardly the only company working on self-driving trucks for the future.
He anticipates both will be ready for unveiling next year. It means that when you are not using your vehicle, you can add it to a shared Tesla fleet so that others, for a small fee, can use it for rides.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk attends a forum on startups in Hong Kong, China, Jan. 26, 2016.
“In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicle needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport”. Before then, Musk plans for Tesla to launch a new compact SUV, a light commercial vehicle in the form of a pick-up, and a passenger auto even smaller and more affordable than the upcoming Model 3 (pictured). “Enable your vehicle to make money for you when you aren’t using it”.
Musk says that these kinds of schemes could “significantly” offset loans or leases, which in turn could drive down the true cost of ownership and give “almost anyone” the chance to own a Tesla. Most cars are only used by their owners 5 to 10 percent of the day, Musk noted, and claiming this sharing scheme would put them to more productive use.
“This dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where nearly anyone could own a Tesla”, Musk said.
In August 2006, Musk presented Tesla’s part one of its master plans.
Then there’s the regulations that need to be drawn up in each region and market to make it legal to be in a self-driving auto.
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“In cities where demand exceeds the supply of customer-owned cars, Tesla will operate its own fleet, ensuring you can always hail a ride from us no matter where you are”, he said.
