Here’s what went down at Tesla Investor Day 2023
Elon Musk offered a lot of visionary language and manufacturing insights but fewer hard product details in Master Plan Part 3
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- Tesla Investor Day 2023 took place today, Wednesday, March 1, at the Texas Gigafactory
- Elon Musk and other execs revealed the Master Plan 3 with total investment around $10 trillion
- During the presentation, Tesla’s stock fell around 3 per cent in after-hours trading.
All eyes were on Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas near Austin today for the 2023 Investor Day, where shareholders and fans were given an update and look forward to the brand’s business.
As Musk and co. see it, the future of energy on Earth can and should be 100 per cent sustainable by 2050. And if we’re to get there, Tesla will play a large part.
“There is a clear path to a sustainable-energy Earth,” said Musk early on while presenting alongside Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering, Drew Baglino. “It doesn’t require destroying natural habitats. It doesn’t require us to be austere and stop using electricity and be in the cold or anything…In fact, you could support a civilization much bigger than Earth, much more than the 8 billion humans could actually be supported sustainably on Earth.”
What’s required, according to Musk, is more battery storage. Lots more. Tesla engineers did some math to determine that the appropriate amount of energy storage (around 240TWh or 240,000GWh) would take up around 0.2 per cent of the world’s surface. Less if the solar or wind fields were located off-shore.
And according to Tesla, it’ll cost around $10 trillion (or 10 per cent of the world’s GDP in 2022) in total investment toward battery factories, recycling, new vehicle factories (that produce lower cost models by plugging existing pieces together), and more. Meanwhile, the world will need to also be marching away from fossil fuels and toward more sustainable solutions like EVs, heat pumps, high temp heat delivery and hydrogen, renewable power for the grid, and even sustainable fuel places and boats.
“I want today to be not just about Tesla or investors who own stock. But really anybody who is an investor in Earth — what we’re trying to convey is a message of hope and optimism,” said Musk. “Optimism that is based on actual physics and real calculations, not just wishful thinking.”
During the presentation, Tesla’s stock fell around 3 per cent in after-hours trading, and continued to slide when the market opened the next morning.
But it wasn’t all grand visions of a sustainable future. Elon and company did give some soft details on operations, including how they plan to halve manufacturing costs in order to be able to build a US$20,000 vehicle. The company’s chief engineer Lars Moravy told the crowd Tesla will be able to build its next-gen fleet for half of what it currently costs to assemble the Model 3 and Model Y.
One of the ways the brand plans to do this is with something it calls an ‘Uboxed Process’ that replaces hundreds of welded-together panels with a trio of large single-body castings that make up the conjoined frame. These changes should also lower Tesla’s manufacturing footprint by 40 per cent.
“The traditional way of making a vehicle is this: you stamp it, you do build a body-in-white, you paint it and you do final assembly,” said Moravy. “And what’s interesting is these shops are dictated by the organizational structures that exist and they’re dictated by the boundaries that exist in the factories that are laid out.
We also got some details on the Cybertruck, which Tesla had on display at the event, and a couple mentions of the “next-generation” vehicle, which we assume is the so-called Model 2 allegedly set to be 30 per cent lighter and have 25 per cent less battery power than the Model 3.
Images of the (still) forthcoming electric pickup’s interior (and a quick walk-around) were shared to Twitter. It’s chunky and steeply angled like the exterior, and features a flip-up back seat that Honda has been using for years.
A video clip shot from a birds-eye perspective of the Cybertruck driving around a parking lot shows the latest concept’s heretofore unseen glass roof and black tonneau cover. One almost wonders if they’re smash proof…
Clearly there was plenty to gawk at for those in attendance at the Texas event, but what about all the investors, enthusiasts, and others watching online? Were they as fulfilled by Elon’s latest doling of news? As usual, the Internet has had A LOT to say.
One of the top complaints about the event was the relative lack of solid updates. Sure, Elon waxed poetic about the company’s paradigm-shifting plans, but there simply wasn’t a lot for people to really grab on to. No model announcements or even real teases. Just some charts and graphs, and promises about manufacturing processes.
https://twitter.com/TimeHelpy/status/1631090406438912001
Perhaps as a result of the ambiguity, Tesla’s stock suffered, dipping almost to 6 per cent the day after.
A search for the term “Tesla” on the Musk-owned social media platform Twitter produces far more positive responses from brand-friendlies wearing the official blue checkmark next to their names. There’s a lot of props given to Musk and a lot of accusing the layman of ‘just not getting it’.
Could Musk have had developers adjust the algorithm to benefit the occasion? He certainly filled the room with fawning fans.
Meanwhile, Elon’s original fangirl and number-one supporter took in the events from home like the rest of us.
How did Tesla’s Investor Day make you feel? If you’re holding Tesla stock, we want to hear from you in the comments.
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