Elon Musk: Tesla expanding into pickups, heavy trucks: VIDEO

Elon Musk: Tesla expanding into pickups, heavy trucks

source .dailymail.co.uk

Marco della Cava, USA TODAY 4:06 p.m. EDT July 21, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO — Watch out, fellow automakers: Elon Musk announced Wednesday night that Tesla Motors, known for pricey electric sedans, hopes to expand into small SUVs, a pickup and even heavy-duty semis and buses in a bid to revolutionize transportation as we know it.

That bombshell was just part of Musk's long-touted Tesla master plan, a follow-up to one issued when the company was just starting out, outlining a strategy that pivots the company from a builder of niche automobiles to a producer of a broad range of passenger and commercial vehicles that eschew fossil fuel.

Also noted in the plan, which Musk published on the company's website, is the company's more well-known pursuit of the consumer solar business through its planned acquisition of SolarCity.

Tesla will "create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage, expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments, develop a self-driving capability that is 10 (times) safer than manual via massive fleet learning, (and) enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using it," reads Musk's "Master Plan, Part Deux."

Investors were not encouraged as Tesla (TSLA) shares fell down 3.4% Thursday, closing at $220.50.

The sheer ambitiousness of Musk's missive was both typical and controversial.

"If Part One of Elon Musk's master plan was like putting a man on the moon, Part Two is a lot more like colonizing the galaxy," said Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analytics for Edmunds.com, She called the plan "overly ambitious for now, especially considering that there there are already doubts about whether Tesla can meet its goals for the next two years."

She noted, however, that Tesla's goals are different from that of other automakers because of the goal of eliminating the need for fossil fuels.

Autotrader senior analyst Michelle Krebs was more blunt.

“As is typical, Elon Musk has laid out a grandiose plan for the future with no time frames and few specifics and no mention of how and when Tesla will be profitable," she says. "Tesla’s latest Master includes expanding its electric vehicle product line to cover all major segments when it hasn’t been meeting production targets with the limited product line it has now and in the next couple of years.”

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/07/20/musk-sees-tesla-energy-company---plus-cars/87363390