Elon Musk has hinted at producing Tesla buses and vans previously.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Elon Musk’s third “Master Plan” is his most ambitious yet. (And his longest.)
It spells out exactly how the world can wean itself of fossil fuels and transition to an economy with no carbon emissions. It includes cars and batteries, of course, and stretches into hydrogen, steel making, and all the materials needed to make it happen.
Master Plan 3 was released Wednesday evening, a little more than a month after Tesla (ticker: TSLA) previewed the plan at an investor event it hosted in Austin, Texas.
The full plan fills in the details. What the world needs is $10 trillion in investment over 20 years. That’s actually less money than the world would spend developing fossil fuel resources such as oil and coal over the same span. Tesla estimates that amount at $14 trillion.
Musk’s $10 trillion includes money for new car plants and renewable energy. It also includes money for all the materials needed for batteries. (Tesla sees no shortages.)
There is also money for sustainable steel making and fertilizer production and all the materials needed for that. Both industries rely on fossil fuels for part of their raw materials today. And it also includes money to shift from traditional air conditioning to heat pumps. There is a lot of detail.
It also teased the idea of three new Tesla vehicles: a compact car, a van, and a bus. Investors eager for the company to offer a less expensive vehicle still don’t get exactly what they want, though. The compart car’s timing is “TBD,” short for to be determined.
Master Plan 1 was released in 2006. It laid out Musk’s plans to build Tesla. Money from the original Roadster would help fun the Models S and X. The money from the Model S would help develop the Models 3 and Y. That plan worked so well that Tesla became the world’s most valuable car company.
Master Plan, Part Deux came out in 2016. It spelled out Tesla’s goal to be more involved in energy generation and storage as well as expand its product lineup and develop self-driving cars. Plan 2 came out before the release of the Models 3 and Y, so Tesla has followed through on adding to its lineup of cars. Tesla also has a growing energy-storage business. It still hasn’t developed truly self-driving cars.
The success of Master Plan 3 isn’t ultimately up to Tesla. Other people will have to spend most of the $10 trillion.
Tesla stock was down 1.5% in premarket trading.
S&P 500
futures were flat and futures on the
Nasdaq Composite
had slipped 0.3%.
Some other stocks could move on Plan 3, which also includes details about lithium, battery recycling, and plans to eliminate some rare earth materials from electric motors.
Li-Cycle
(LICY) is a recycler,
Albemarle
(ALB) is the world’s largest lithium miner and
MP Materials
(MP) is mining rare earth metals for electric motors in the U.S.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]
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