Tesla Uber Alles

The man who is the brains behind Tesla has revealed the next phase of his plan for the company known for its premium electric vehicles.

Taking to Twitter.com overnight, Elon Musk has published a four-page manifesto, comprising the following four goals:
• Integrate Energy Generation and Storage
• Expand to Cover the Major Forms of Terrestrial Transport
• Autonomy
• Sharing

In essence, the first goal is tied in with the company's acquisition of US solar panel supplier Solar City. This was the missing piece in the puzzle for Tesla as a company capturing sustainable energy – solar power in this case – and supplying it back to consumers for use in their homes and cars.

The second goal is arguably the most interesting, with Musk articulating his desire to expand the Tesla automotive line-up to include trucks and buses. 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 car even smaller and more affordable than the upcoming Model 3 (pictured).

Here's what Musk wrote on the subject of trucks and buses: "In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicle needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport. Both are in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year. We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate."

The whole world is looking towards an autonomous-motoring future, and Tesla is arguably at the forefront of that vision, despite a recent event that cast the company's technology in doubt.

Musk addressed this situation in part with the following observation: "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."

On the subject of 'sharing', Musk anticipates Tesla's customers forming a co-operative fleet of vehicle owners allowing others to use their cars on an ad-hoc basis, for those occasions the owner is not in need of the car. This can be orchestrated through smartphone apps – and taken to the logical extreme would mean the end of taxis.

Here are Musk's views on how that would work: "You will also be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you're at work or on vacation, significantly offsetting and at times potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost. 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 5% to 10% 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."

You can read Musk's 'Master Plan, Part Deux' on his blog at the Tesla website.