Essay: Master Plan, Part Deux

Overview
Elon Musk’s 2016 essay “Master Plan, Part Deux” extends Tesla’s original 2006 roadmap beyond premium electric cars to a unified, scalable system for sustainable energy and transport. After recapping the first plan, build an expensive sports car, use the proceeds to make progressively more affordable EVs, and provide zero-emission energy generation, he reframes Tesla as an integrated energy and mobility company. The throughline is removing friction: combine energy generation with storage, cover every major vehicle segment with compelling EVs, make autonomy dramatically safer than human driving through fleet learning, and enable cars to earn income when idle via shared networks.

Integrating Energy Generation and Storage
Musk argues that decarbonizing energy requires a seamless blend of solar generation and batteries. Rather than treating rooftop solar, home storage, and electric vehicles as separate purchases, he proposes a single, beautiful solution: solar roofs that look better than conventional materials, paired with home batteries and managed as one system. Unifying hardware, installation, service, and financing would lower complexity and speed adoption. This vision also motivates combining Tesla with SolarCity, so one company can design, sell, and support the full stack, from solar tiles and Powerwall/Powerpack to vehicles, under a single brand and app.

Expanding the Electric Vehicle Lineup
To accelerate the transition, Tesla must address “all major forms of terrestrial transport.” Beyond the existing sedan and SUV, Musk points to a compact SUV and a pickup as the next consumer vehicles. He also sets sights on commercial segments that account for substantial emissions and operating costs: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport. Electrifying these categories promises lower total cost of ownership, quieter streets, zero tailpipe emissions, and better performance, while creating a coherent portfolio that covers personal, commercial, and public mobility.

Autonomy and Safety Philosophy
Musk envisions a self-driving capability that becomes far safer than human drivers through massive fleet learning and over-the-air updates. He defends Tesla’s incremental approach, shipping advanced driver assistance and improving it continuously, on ethical grounds: if data show a net reduction in crashes per mile, withholding or rolling back features would cost more lives. The goal is to gather billions of real-world miles, prove safety improvements statistically, and work with regulators toward full autonomy. He emphasizes system-level redundancy and gradual feature expansion on the path to a robust, fail-safe stack.

The Tesla Network and Car Sharing
Autonomy unlocks a new economic model. Owners will be able to add their cars to a Tesla-operated ride-hailing network when they are not using them, letting vehicles earn income and significantly reduce the effective cost of ownership. For areas with insufficient privately-owned supply, Tesla would deploy its own fleet. With “summon” capabilities, cars could handle end-to-end trips independently. This shared layer is meant to maximize utilization, lower per-mile costs, and extend EV benefits beyond individual ownership to on-demand mobility.

Rethinking Urban Transport
The plan reimagines the city bus as a smaller, more frequent, electric, and eventually autonomous vehicle. Without a central aisle and with optimized seating near doors, boarding would be faster and space used more efficiently. Dynamic routing through a connected app would adjust stops to match demand in real time, improving convenience while reducing congestion. The design prioritizes pedestrian safety, accessibility for wheelchairs and strollers, and a calmer urban streetscape with fewer, cleaner, quieter vehicles.

Purpose and Trajectory
Across energy, vehicles, autonomy, and sharing, the essay binds disparate efforts into a single mission: a compelling alternative to the fossil-fuel economy that people prefer on merit, beauty, performance, safety, convenience, and cost. By integrating the stack and scaling manufacturing, Musk contends that sustainable energy and transport can outcompete incumbents and become the default choice.