Tesla's Musk Sees New Direction For Company
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In mid-June, Tesla CEO and Founder Elon Musk released a blog post identifying what he sees as Tesla's future, and it is not necessarily about owning a segment of the automotive industry. Tesla contribute to making the energy economy sustainable. The plan would see consumers handle their own energy via a solar/battery combination and provide electric vehicles for every market segment.
This latest blog post recalls a "Master Plan" post the CEO wrote in 2006, where he mapped out Tesla’s projected expansion. Musk discussed how he would use money from the Roadster to build the Model S luxury sedan, money from the Model S to build the more-affordable Model 3 (which is expected out in 2018), and further the goal of energy independence by cross-marketing SolarCity’s panels with his new electric cars.
In the subsequent decade, Musk’s business has largely kept true to that plan, with some slight deviations—Tesla introduced an additional car, the luxury electric Model X SUV, in 2015. The company also broke ground on the Gigafactory, a giant electric vehicle battery factory in Nevada that it’s building with Panasonic to push down the costs of lithium-ion batteries. And, early last year, Tesla announced a stationary storage battery for homeowners to use to supplement solar panels and rely less on traditional power grids.
Musk’s latest master plan builds on Tesla's purchase of SolarCity, which is run by Musk’s own cousins. Many analysts have criticized this deal, especially as Tesla enters a phase in which it should be focusing on getting out the Model 3 as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, shareholders are expected to approve the deal soon.
According to Musk, the purchase is central to Tesla. He intends to create a single solar energy/battery storage system that can make people energy independent with a single purchase. In the future he outlines, any excess power that doesn't go into the home battery will be put into a car. Or a compact SUV or pickup truck, which are in the planning stages. We'll also see the announcement of a Tesla Semi next year, and Musk said the company is working on a completely redesigned city bus that's smaller, has denser seating, and takes passengers directly to their destination, rather than the nearest bus stop.
That will almost certainly depend on autonomous driving, which is another major point of the master plan. Tesla’s autopilot software has come under fire after a customer was killed in a crash with a left-turning truck while the self-driving option was on, and Musk spends a lot of his blog post defending the system.
Getting regulatory approval for autonomous driving, however, will not only be essential for buses, but also for the final piece of Musk's master plan: ride sharing without a driver. Since most cars are only in use between 5 and 10 percent of the day, Tesla will create a fleet service for their owners. Anyone can use it to summon a Tesla to deliver them to their destination for a fee that then gets shared with the car's owner—who could be sleeping the whole time. This income will offset the cost of purchase, which is why Musk thinks Tesla doesn't have to bring the price of its vehicles down.
This latest blog post recalls a "Master Plan" post the CEO wrote in 2006, where he mapped out Tesla’s projected expansion. Musk discussed how he would use money from the Roadster to build the Model S luxury sedan, money from the Model S to build the more-affordable Model 3 (which is expected out in 2018), and further the goal of energy independence by cross-marketing SolarCity’s panels with his new electric cars.
In the subsequent decade, Musk’s business has largely kept true to that plan, with some slight deviations—Tesla introduced an additional car, the luxury electric Model X SUV, in 2015. The company also broke ground on the Gigafactory, a giant electric vehicle battery factory in Nevada that it’s building with Panasonic to push down the costs of lithium-ion batteries. And, early last year, Tesla announced a stationary storage battery for homeowners to use to supplement solar panels and rely less on traditional power grids.
Musk’s latest master plan builds on Tesla's purchase of SolarCity, which is run by Musk’s own cousins. Many analysts have criticized this deal, especially as Tesla enters a phase in which it should be focusing on getting out the Model 3 as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, shareholders are expected to approve the deal soon.
According to Musk, the purchase is central to Tesla. He intends to create a single solar energy/battery storage system that can make people energy independent with a single purchase. In the future he outlines, any excess power that doesn't go into the home battery will be put into a car. Or a compact SUV or pickup truck, which are in the planning stages. We'll also see the announcement of a Tesla Semi next year, and Musk said the company is working on a completely redesigned city bus that's smaller, has denser seating, and takes passengers directly to their destination, rather than the nearest bus stop.
That will almost certainly depend on autonomous driving, which is another major point of the master plan. Tesla’s autopilot software has come under fire after a customer was killed in a crash with a left-turning truck while the self-driving option was on, and Musk spends a lot of his blog post defending the system.
Getting regulatory approval for autonomous driving, however, will not only be essential for buses, but also for the final piece of Musk's master plan: ride sharing without a driver. Since most cars are only in use between 5 and 10 percent of the day, Tesla will create a fleet service for their owners. Anyone can use it to summon a Tesla to deliver them to their destination for a fee that then gets shared with the car's owner—who could be sleeping the whole time. This income will offset the cost of purchase, which is why Musk thinks Tesla doesn't have to bring the price of its vehicles down.
