Each step of Elon Musk’s first Tesla Master Plan visualized in concept video

Back in 2006, Elon Musk discreetly published his first Master Plan for Tesla, a company was then pushing hard to create its first vehicle, the original Tesla Roadster. The plan was ambitious, and it forecasted massive growth for the small, upstart carmaker. It was, at that time, at least, highly optimistic, and perhaps a little more than improbable. 

Elon Musk’s first Master Plan is aimed at accomplishing a notable part of Tesla’s overall mission: to accelerate the advent of sustainable energy. The plan involved four stages, starting with the creation of a low-volume, high-priced vehicle (the original Tesla Roadster), a medium volume car at a lower price (the Model S and Model X), and culminating in the creation of a high-volume car (the Model 3), and solar power (Tesla Energy). 

If all this sounds a bit familiar, it is because Tesla has accomplished each step of this plan today. The original Tesla Roadster was successful, and it opened the doors to the Model S and X. The Model 3 is saturating multiple territories across the globe, and Tesla Energy is ramping, albeit at a more understated pace compared to the company’s electric car business. 

This journey was recently highlighted in a concept video from Tesla enthusiast Viv (@flcnhvy) on Twitter. Commemorating the upcoming 13th anniversary of Elon Musk’s first Master Plan, the video shows every step of the company’s journey from the original Tesla Roadster all the way to the Model 3 ramp. The video is brief, but it does depict the remarkable journey of an ambitious Silicon Valley startup that decided to help push the world towards sustainability. 

Elon Musk published his second Master Plan three years ago, and so far, the company continues to make some progress towards turning each of its steps a reality. Master Plan, Part Deux is not as product-focused as the first Plan, being comprised of the introduction of Solar Roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage, an expansion of the company’s vehicle lineup across all major segments, the development of an autonomous driving solution that’s 10x safer than a human driver, and the launch of the Tesla Network’s Robotaxi service. 

So far, Tesla has started a deliberate rollout of its Solar Roof tiles, though mass installations for the product are yet to get underway. The expansion of the company’s vehicle lineup has also begun, as evidenced by the Model Y, the Pickup Truck, the Tesla Semi, and the next-generation Roadster. Full Self-Driving also draws closer with each Autopilot update, and the launch of the Tesla Network seems inevitable with the rollout of Hardware 3. Master Plan, Part Deux might not be complete yet, but all its pieces are already in place. 

So what’s next for Tesla after Elon Musk’s second Master Plan is accomplished? A hint of this might have been dropped during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. While addressing a question from Colin William Rusch, an analyst from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., the CEO mentioned a “Master Plan Part 3.” This, according to Musk, could start, at least in some way, when Tesla holds its Battery Day. 

“To some degree, the Battery Day will be kind of like master plan part 3, which is like, okay, how we get from kind of in the tens of gigawatt-hours per year to multiple terawatt-hours per year. That’s a pretty giant-scale increase. And so yes, it’s an increase of sort of roughly 100. Like if we’re at 28 gigawatt-hours right now — well, actually, there is more than that when you count the factories in Japan. So call it like a little over 30 to 35 or something like that. And how do we get to like two terawatt-hours a year?” Musk remarked. 

Watch a tribute to Elon Musk’s first Master Plan and how it was accomplished in the video below.