Elon Musk hints at two future Tesla cars at an Investor Day event

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Wednesday kicked off his company’s investor day by describing a plan to remove fossil fuels from the economy.

Musk is expected to outline a plan to make a smaller, more affordable electric car that would broaden his brand’s appeal and sidestep competition, and he’s presented a slide showcasing two compelling models of the future.

But he focused on beginning the presentation from Tesla headquarters in Austin, Texas, with an introduction to the company’s “Master Plan 3” for a “sustainable energy future.”

The previous two flagships – the most recent in 2016 – set out to expand into new models and battery storage.

“There is a clear path to a fully sustainable Earth in abundance,” Musk said. “An electrified economy will require less mining than the current economy.”

The executives said they will discuss five areas: renewable energy, electric vehicles, the shift to heat pumps, high-temperature heat/hydrogen delivery, and sustainable fuels for aircraft and boats.

Capturing the mass market is critical to achieving Tesla’s goal of increasing deliveries 15-fold — to 20 million vehicles — by 2030. To do that, Tesla will have to improve its battery technology, which Musk has called a “core limiting factor.” of the transition to sustainable energy, making it a potential topic for Wednesday’s speech.

Musk could also describe plans to refresh the company’s best-selling vehicles, after Reuters revealed its “Project Jupiter” plan to revamp its Model Y SUV. .

Tesla has become the world’s most valuable auto company by far, and the billionaire CEO has aspirations of penetrating the mass market and turning the electric car maker into a company that can create a more climate-friendly world.

Tesla has outpaced the industry in recent years, ramping up deliveries rapidly despite the pandemic and supply chain disruptions.

But Tesla has lowered prices in recent months to boost sales, which have been pressured by a weak economy and mounting threats from competitors in the United States and China.

The automaker only has four models, and they’re all priced toward the higher end of the market.

Tesla has promised to talk about expansion plans and capital spending, with a variety of projects from batteries to self-driving technology to new factories likely to be discussed.

Mexican officials announced on Tuesday that Tesla will build a factory in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. It will be the company’s first factory outside the United States, Germany and China, and Musk is expected to provide more details on Wednesday.

Plans to get an affordable car can attract the most attention. In 2020, Musk unveiled an in-house battery development plan, which he said would make $25,000 self-driving electric cars possible by 2023, but Tesla is struggling to ramp up production of its so-called 4680 batteries.

Some investors, including those wary, hope Musk is spending too much time on his latest major acquisition, Twitter, also hope the CEO will make calls to buy back shares, which hit about half of their November 2021 peaks even after a more than 60-plus rebound. % this year.

Reporting by Hyunjo-jin in San Francisco and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru Editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis

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