
IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology
Elon Musk Just Outlined Tesla's 'Master Plan' To Take On Uber
• ForbesElon Musk has always had grand plans for Tesla, disrupting the entire auto industry. Now he's got his eyes on a younger rival: Uber.
On Wednesday, Musk released his second "Master Plan" for his upstart automaker Tesla. The plan is ambitious, with four goals that include integrating Tesla with SolarCity, building both a pickup truck and mini-bus, and advancing self-driving capability to more than 10 times the safety of a human driver.
But it's Musk's fourth goal, following autonomous technology, that will put it into the competitive ridesharing business against the likes of Uber and Lyft. Here is that section in full:
When true self-driving is approved by regulators, it will mean that you will be able to summon your Tesla from pretty much anywhere. Once it picks you up, you will be able to sleep, read or do anything else enroute to your destination.
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.
In cities where demand exceeds the supply of customer-owned cars, Tesla will operate its own fleet, ensuring you can always hail a ride from us no matter where you are.