Tesla's Vision: More EVs, Automated Buses, Advanced Solar Storage

CEO Elon Musk says the phase-two business plan for Tesla Motors Inc. calls for a broad expansion of the company’s electric-vehicle lineup, more advanced self-driving capabilities and the debut of a fully integrated home solar energy storage system.

He also envisions dramatic advances in EV manufacturing techniques over the next eight years or so. Musk predicts the resulting factory will be 5-10 times as efficient as the version that will begin making the company’s Model 3 electric sedan roughly 18 months from now.

Musk says Tesla will expand its EV lineup with a compact SUV and a “new kind” of pickup truck. Those models will be followed by heavy-duty electric trucks and buses. He expects to unveil prototypes of the latter two vehicles in 2017. Musk envisions relatively small self-driving city buses that can take riders all the way to their destinations.

Tesla also will push development of highly advanced autonomous driving capabilities. When Tesla vehicles become capable of fully autonomous operation, owners will be able to summon their vehicle from anywhere. He says they’ll also be able to use a smartphone app to share their cars with others, thereby generating income during the 90% of the time a vehicle isn’t being used by its owner.

Musk cautions that achieving full self-driving capabilities will take several years. He estimates regulatory approval for completely automated vehicles will come only after such technology accumulates some 6 billion miles of real-world testing. At the current pace of testing, which Musk says is piling up 3 million miles per day, that moment would come at the end of 2022.

Musk also aims to develop a fully integrated solar roof and storage system for homes. Such a system would combine solar panels made by SolarCity Corp. with Tesla’s Powerwall battery storage system. Musk, who is chairman of both companies, has proposed issuing as much as $2.8 billion in Tesla stock to acquire SolarCity and merge it under the Tesla name.

Analysts, who note that both companies are operating at a loss, remain skeptical of the merger plan. Musk insists that combining the two companies will be necessary to “break down the barriers inherent to being separate companies.”