Tesla had an Investor Day event at its gigafactory in Austin, TX, today. Somehow, during this event, Secret Master Plan #3 got leaked to some people. It even appeared on a website that did not understand the nondisclosure agreement (NDA). Or is there some ambiguity in “secret.” The writer says it is just between you and me.
What was announced for Master Plan #3 was “the path to a fully sustainable energy future for Earth.” Well, that path is best described by Mark Z. Jacobson from Stanford University in California. Another leading voice on this topic is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, better known as the IPCC. IPCC publications are the most scrutinized on this topic in the world.
Let us not forget the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. It publishes yearly overviews about progress in this industry and the roads to a clean world. And at last, one of my favourites: the “One Earth Climate Model” from the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, in Australia. And there are many other pathways to a sustainable energy future, albeit some from fossil-fuel proponents are not very sustainable in my humble opinion.
Do we need one more path? What does the new “secret” master plan contribute to these other pathways?
Nothing new on the path to a sustainable future. Because that road is pretty well laid out. This was a half-hour waste of time for me. But that is what I do for a hobby, follow Tesla.
Next came talk of improvements in design and production. For people who have followed Tesla closely these last 10 years or more, nothing much was disclosed. For me, what was new was the transition to a complete ethernet IP-based system in the next-gen vehicle.
The transition from 12V to 48V in the future is not really a surprise. It is something all carmakers are thinking about, and know to be unavoidable.
The design and production presentation was great to see, even with not much new information. It was followed by a very non-informative set of presentations about software and FSD development.
What was more promising was the battery production story. The 4680 cells Tesla has been working on are finally getting into volume production. Production in Austin is scaling up and production in Nevada is in development.
That was followed by talk about Tesla installing stationary energy storage all over the world and providing energy to its customers in Texas. Tesla is entering the electricity utility business.
This being an “investor day,” there was a lot of information to convince investors that TSLA is a good investment. It was even mentioned that the board was starting to talk about stock buybacks or dividend payments. Tesla is really becoming a mature company. But for those of us interested in future products and production of the company, there was not much news.
Full disclosure: I have and will keep my Tesla shares. That is an environmental and financial decision. It has nothing to do with the antics of the CEO.
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