What is in Store for Elon Musk's Second Master Plan

Posted by: JackSawyer // Student

Elon Musk announced via Twitter this Sunday (July 10th, 2016) that he plans to unveil his second master plan for Tesla. His first master plan involved four general goals, those being; build a sports car, use that money to build an affordable car, use that money to build an even more affordable car, and lastly, provide zero emission electric power generation options. This plan managed to work out rather well for Elon and Tesla. Despite the Model S (Elon's first supposed 'affordable car') being close to $100,000, the even more affordable car managed to be more inline with his goals coming out to around $35,000 and has seen promising preorder sales and will be released in 2017.

His first master plan, especially after achieving the third goal, sent a shockwave through the auto industry due to the fact that the company had created a relatively affordable electric car - with this in mind, what are we going to see in Elon's second master plan, and will it produce the same buzz and impact?

Although we will have to wait until later this week to find out, I have had some ideas about what his plan may revolve around. Tesla has recently been in talks to acquire SolarCity, and with this in mind, I could see Elon trying to build a Tesla ecosystem. Much like how Apple has created an ecosystem around its computers, phones, and tablets, communicating and working in sync to make a simplistic and useful system, Tesla could create a system revolving around renewable energy. If they were to acquire SolarCity they could have an ecosystem in which you buy solar panels for you home and then, with a Tesla Powerwall (an energy storage device) and Tesla car, you could have clean energy to power both your home and car. Although this may seem like quite an ambitious project and perhaps be way down the line, it would be a system, that like Apple's, would all work together and be simple for the consumer. What's more, Tesla have ventured away from being just a car company in the past, just last year they released the Powerwall, a battery storage system for the home. Tesla is focused on creating renewable energy products and so my idea would be in line with their companies values and product grouping.

What do you think Elon's second master plan is? Will it be a line of new electric vehicles, like a truck? Furthermore, in light of the recent Tesla autopilot death and criticism over rumors of a SolarCity acquisition, will it even come into fruition?

La Monica, Paul. "Elon Musk Teases New Master Plan for Tesla." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 11 July 2016. Web. 11 July 2016. http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/11/investing/tesla-elon-musk-masterplan-solarcity-autopilot/index.html