Compact SUV and pick-up part of Tesla’s updated master plan

A decade after announcing his master plan for the firm, Tesla boss Elon Musk has now revealed what he calls his ‘Master Plan, Part Deux’, which includes product plans for the firm’s car line-up, further autonomous technology and intentions to enter the public transport sector.

Announcing the latest plans on Tesla’s website, Musk confirmed plans to introduce a pick-up truck and compact SUV in its vehicle line-up. He also identified two other electric vehicles he thinks are necessary – heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport – both of which he confirmed are in the early stages of development at Tesla and will be unveiled next year. Musk did however rule out a vehicle cheaper than the Model 3.

Increasing autonomy

Musk said that as technology matures, all Tesla vehicles will be fully self-driving, but with “fail-operational capability, meaning that any given system in the car could break and the car will still drive itself safely”. However, he added that even when the software is highly refined and far better than the average human driver, there will be a significant time gap before fully autonomous driving is approved by regulators. Musk also said that Autopilot is still in its beta phase and will continue to improve. The beta label will then be removed once Autopilot is roughly 10 times safer than the US vehicle average.

Solar-powered roofs

Tesla plans to create what is described by Musk as a “smoothly integrated and beautiful” solar roof and battery car product, which can be scaled worldwide, with the buying process being described as “one ordering experience, one installation, one service contact, one phone app”.

Car sharing

Musk also plans to introduce a car-sharing platform, explaining that once self-driving is approved by regulators, a Tesla vehicle will be able to be summoned from anywhere. He commented, “Since most cars are only in use by their owner for five percent to 10 percent 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.” Tesla will also run its own fleet in cities where demand exceeds supply of customer-owned cars.