Musk’s ambitious plan, which is rolled out as part of Tesla’s “Master Plan, Part Deux”, also called for solar panels with batteries to store the energy.
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He also vigorously defended Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving system, despite the recent death of a driver in a vehicle fitted with it.
Tesla’s founder said he envisions owners allowing others to use their vehicles through a smartphone application.
“Now that Tesla is ready to scale Powerwall and SolarCity is ready toovide highly differentiated solar, the time has come to bring them together”, pr he said.
Now, the energy-conscious company will combine efforts with SolarCity to create a “solar-roof-with-battery product”, something Musk believes is integral for the move to sustainable energy.
Tesla isn’t the only one hoping to “share” its driverless cars: Uber is also developing autonomous vehicles.
Since that plan was unveiled in 2006, Tesla has released the Roadster, the Model S, the Model X and will soon make the Model 3 available to all.
Musk has long said he wants to make Tesla cars that can be more easily afforded by more people, and says the new compact Model 3, due to go on sale late next year, will be followed by a compact SUV and a pickup truck at some point in the future.
In cities where demand exceeds the supply of customer-owned cars, Tesla plans to operate its own fleet.
Musk also used the “master plan” post to address concerns about the safety of autonomous cars, noting that they are meant to be “highly refined and far better than the average human driver”.
In his previous post, Musk outlined his grand plan for the electric auto company, which included building an electric sports vehicle, using the money earned from that vehicle to make a more affordable auto and then using that money to make an even more affordable vehicle.
Musk revealed that he had lofty ambitions for his autonomous vehicles, with the company refusing to officially bring it out of its beta stage until “Autopilot is approximately 10 times safer than the U.S. vehicle average”.
Musk doubled down on autonomous driving, saying it would be “morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability”.
Musk pointed out this will help pay off your vehicle, making the pricey Teslas more affordable. In his blog, he also talks about Tesla buses not sticking to pre-determined routes.
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Tesla auto sharing “dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where nearly anyone could own a Tesla“, Musk said.
