Eight technologies Elon Musk revealed Tesla is working on in his plan for world domination
Tesla founder Elon Musk has already pioneered electric and driverless vehicles (to varying degrees of success). Now he has unveiled what the business will do next.
Yep: having pulled an all-nighter to finish putting it together, last night Musk unveiled "Master Plan, Part Deux" – 10 years after he wrote the company's original plan.
Today's plan includes various new technologies Tesla is working on. To wit:
1. Solar power
Musk said he wants to create a "smoothly integrated and beautiful solar-roof-with-battery product that just works", which will "empower the individual as their own utility".
He added that SolarCity, which the company bought for $2.8bn (£1.9bn) last month will be combined with Tesla.
"That they are separate at all, despite similar origins and pursuit of the same overarching goal of sustainable energy, is largely an accident of history."
2-6. All the vehicles – starting with an SUV and a pickup truck
Musk said he wants Tesla to cover 'the major forms of terrestrial transport", starting with a compact SUV and a new kind of pickup truck.
Musk added that the company has begun exploring "heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport", and wants to "shrink the size of buses and transition the role of bus driver to that of fleet manager".
"Traffic congestion would improve due to increased passenger areal density by eliminating the center aisle and putting seats where there are currently entryways, and matching acceleration and braking to other vehicles, thus avoiding the inertial impedance to smooth traffic flow of traditional heavy buses. It would also take people all the way to their destination. Fixed summon buttons at existing bus stops would serve those who don't have a phone. Design accommodates wheelchairs, strollers and bikes."
7. More autonomy
All Tesla vehicles will be equipped with the hardware to be fully self-driving, Musk said, meaning as the technology matures the software can be rolled out.
"I should add a note here to explain why Tesla is deploying partial autonomy now, rather than waiting until some point in the future. The most important reason is that, when used correctly, it is already significantly safer than a person driving by themselves and it would therefore be morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability."
8. A "shared fleet"
Not only will self-driving technology mean you can summon your Tesla to wherever you are, said Musk – but you'll also be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet, meaning it can "generate income for you while you're at work or on vacation".
"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 five per cent to 10 per cent 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."