https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-deux
So, in short, Master Plan, Part Deux is:
Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments
Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
Enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using it
Previously: Elon Musk's "Top Secret Tesla Masterplan, Part 2"
Related Stories
Yes, the phrase used in the headline is a direct quote. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is teasing new details about the company's future, set to be announced later this week. The news may be in reaction to slipping stock prices and troubles with regulators following a recent crash:
While offering no other details, the master plan is likely a follow-up to a 2006 blog post titled "The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me)," in which Musk laid out his vision for Tesla, including eventual plans for the Tesla Roadster, the Model S sedan and the upcoming (and more affordable) Model 3 sedan.
It may not be a bad idea for Musk to roll out some optimistic news. In recent weeks, the electric car company has become the subject of a federal safety investigation following at least two crashes — one fatal — possibly related to its highly touted autopilot feature; Tesla has announced a drop in Model S shipments; and Musk himself has come under fire after proposing that Tesla purchase SolarCity, which he is also the chairman of, much to the chagrin of shareholders.
[...] Tesla shares are down almost 10% year-to-date, and down more than 16% in the past 12 months.
You may also be interested in this NYT editorial about "Lessons From the Tesla Crash".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @01:20PM
meh
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:09PM
I didn't really find anything compelling in his final solution I mean master plan.
(Score: 2) by deadstick on Friday July 22 2016, @02:01PM
Make Mexico pay for it.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday July 22 2016, @05:40PM
That's a roundabout way to get to 3) Profit...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tibman on Friday July 22 2016, @02:28PM
An electric truck! About time : ) I've been waiting for jeep to do anything at all other than their current inline-6 (and similar). They've recently put out an eco-diesel but only for the grand cherokee. Like a year ago they said they were working on a hybrid but the delivery date was so far away (2020?) that i doubt it was more than a doodle on a napkin.
If people didn't know, trucks are very popular in the United States. Even for everyday use like driving to work.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday July 22 2016, @02:41PM
I really want 220V to be the new power take off. If you have a hybrid electric vehicle, I want to be able to use it as a generator while stationary. A Jeep that can power a welder would be quite handy.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday July 22 2016, @03:15PM
That's a really interesting idea. If you had roof solar panels that unfold a la Mars Rover you could turn your Jeep into a mobile mini-fab.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Friday July 22 2016, @06:26PM
Gull-wing doors + solar panels = WINNING!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:33PM
Do you know something I don't know? Do you know what the required surface area would be for photovoltaic cells to power a welder would be? A small welder needs around 2kw and that is for plate steel on the order of 1/2" to 3/8" - sheet metal can get away with a lot less but is very limiting. One saving element here might be duty cycle - in 10% duty cycle the welder runs for 1 minute out of 10 minutes; this would give the batteries a chance to charge during the down time.
And yes I am a trained welder. I've got hundreds of hours of lab under my belt and qualified to weld structural steel up to 1/2" thick in all positions, including overhead.
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:38PM
Half inch plate takes a fuck ton of power and a lot of passes.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Saturday July 23 2016, @04:52AM
About 300W per square meter at 30% efficiency (full sun). So, we at talking 4m2 per kW, or 8m2 for 2 kW.
In imperial, that would be about 6ftx12ft.
Psuedoedit: Checked Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], and those numbers are within an order of magnitude.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Saturday July 23 2016, @04:58AM
That's what a get for failing to show my work: I meant 100W/m2. implying 20m2 for 2kW.
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:28PM
That is an interesting idea though one of the benefits of pure mechanical PTO is the lack of an electricity to motion conversion step. Being able to weld in the field using power from the truck and actually having it run a decent welding power supply would be very nice but probably not so good for a farmer trying to run equipment off their tractor.
I also wonder if the existing AC power inverters used for propulsion could be reprogrammed to deliver the correct current for an off the shelf welder. Seems possible but perhaps niche. But at least the welder and the electric propulsion system are probably around the same level of power requirements though the welder duty cycle (if it is very good) might exceed the expected duty cycle of the vehicle.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Saturday July 23 2016, @03:56AM
This did cross my mind, the need for another motor would increase cost and decrease efficiency. However I think using a cord instead of a mechanical linkage would be a huge convience, and assuming this can emulate the mains 240V opens the door to so much COTS equipment.
I suspect the power would be more than sufficient. The Chevy Volt has a ~70HP engine for its generator, which is larger than any contractor generator I can find on Northern Tool (~20HP seems to be as big as contractor generators go).
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Saturday July 23 2016, @11:48AM
However I think using a cord instead of a mechanical linkage would be a huge convience
Right there with you on that one actually! The vehicles will have much better inverters than I'll get my hands on to install in my truck.
The Chevy Volt has a ~70HP engine for its generator, which is larger than any contractor generator I can find on Northern Tool
And this is really the important part; I think we'll have to rely on hybrid gas/electric powertrains for this kind of utility, at least for now. The alternative (per another part of this thread) is around 200 square feet of solar panels to achieve a nominal 2kw or ~2.5 HP while the Volt is cranking out around about 35kw assuming the inverter is highly efficient (probably is).
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday July 22 2016, @03:18PM
NYC and the Tristate area would really benefit from EV Semis and delivery trucks. The asthma rate here is off the charts from all the particulates generated by the armies of trucks that supply the city every day. Also the deafening level of white noise from engine noise would fall silent; noise is the #1 complaint in NYC's 311 service and contributes a lot to the average stress level.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday July 22 2016, @05:46PM
Come on guys! Someone gotta say that Tesla is too stupid to have even considered that a truck needs more range than EV can provide, and therefore it's a stupid idea that will never work Don't leave us hanging as you demonstrate how much smarter than Tesla's engineers you are. Tell me how your brother-in-law has to go 900 miles a day in his truck, and can't afford the time to recharge, so that we may e-mail Elon to inform him...
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:21PM
Don't leave us hanging as you demonstrate how much smarter than Tesla's engineers you are.
Tesla has a pretty good record with their electric propulsion systems and I respect that. However managers don't always listen to their engineers [wikipedia.org]. There is also the idea that the range could be quite low and still useful for intercity transport; that isn't an engineering thing it is a use case thing. I'm not going to mod your comment but it is fairly trollish.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday July 22 2016, @06:35PM
Ok, guilty as charged. I'm just really annoyed at all the people proudly dismissing electric cars because it's not good enough that 200 miles addresses 99% of the daily needs of 99% of the worldwide population (+/- 0.8%).
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:41PM
I also get fairly annoyed around this topic but mostly because I see a lot of unreasonable expectations because most people discussing electric vehicles don't understand electrical power very well.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Saturday July 23 2016, @05:02AM
That is a Solved problem [evnut.com] prevented from going to market by battery patents.
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Friday July 22 2016, @06:14PM
Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
Uhm - is that intended to mean the photovoltaic cells on the roof will have batteries in them? Why would batteries be placed on the roof? They will be more difficult to service and be exposed to the elements. When exposed to the elements they'll degrade faster and performance will be temperature dependent. He knows this quite well because his vehicles have to perform thermal management for both heat removal and heat addition depending on the ambient temperature. I wonder if my interpretation is wrong, he expects to do thermal management of the batteries on the roof (what a waste), or if it is just a very short way of saying the panels will work better with storage than it does today.
In any case ever since the second time his vehicles tried to drive themselves through a semi-truck I've got the distinct impression he is desperately trying to do damage control and really showing some ugly sides while working on it. This release has caused his stock to drop and he is taking a pounding with financial analysts some of which also feel like this is a damage control attempt.
(Score: 2) by mrchew1982 on Friday July 22 2016, @06:45PM
Stock isn't doing too bad, currently trading at ~$222 which isn't that far down from the all time high of 280. I wish that I had picked some stock up when it was down at the 150 point in February, 48% return would have been nice, and I'm pretty sure that it's going to keep going up.