Elon Musk made the electric car village ‘wobble’ again: Once promised to launch a new generation of electric cars, but launched a plan to ‘turn 180 degrees’ with investors’ expectations

On March 1, 2023, Elon Musk gave a 3-hour speech on the “Master Plan 3” for the Tesla car brand. He said Tesla’s next phase of growth will be towards a sustainable energy future for the Earth.

The billionaire talked about his vision for a global transition to electric vehicles, fueled by a $10 trillion spending on sustainable energy around the world. The investor event was streamed live from Tesla’s factory in Austin, Texas.

One product that Tesla is likely to expand is heat pumps. Musk and Drew Baglino, senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, say heat pumps can significantly cut heating costs in homes and offices. This will be one of the “pioneer” achievements for Tesla’s transition to sustainable energy.

Tesla also said the company is pushing to set up and operate production facilities quickly. The company has begun construction of a lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The next content that Tesla announced is that they will cut the cost of assembling their cars in half. However, the speech at the event did not mention a next-generation electric car that will be launched in the near future. This frustrated some investors. The stock is down 5% now.

As expected, everyone hopes CEO Elon Musk will outline a plan to produce a completely new but cheaper electric car to compete with the market and regain brand appeal.

But during the presentation, Tom Zhu, Tesla’s chief product officer, only said that the electric car company’s global capacity is currently 2 million vehicles per year. Other directors also talked only about the content surrounding building a sustainable energy future.

Besides, Tesla said that Cybertruck – a car that has been delayed many times will be launched this year, production is expected to happen in 2024.

Crowds of investors flocked to Austin to attend Tesla’s invite-only event to hear about the automaker’s plans to create a “most advanced production line.” The company said management planned to discuss topics including long-term growth, next-generation vehicle architecture and capital spending plans.

Musk announced his “First Master Plan” more than a decade ago, laying out Tesla’s go-to-market strategy to build an electric sports car, followed by a series of low-priced cars. more affordable. The company went with that plan with the Roadster, Model S and then Model 3 sedan – the cheapest car starting at around $43,000.

Ten years later, Musk released the “Part Deux Master Plan,” when Tesla acquired SolarCity. The billionaire also served as president of a solar panel installation company, led by his cousin. That plan talks about a solar roof with battery storage, an extended line of vehicles, and self-driving technology.

Refer to Bloomberg