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Tesla Wants You to Share Your Self-Driving Car of the Future

By:
Alicia Adamczyk
3 min read
Billionaire Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc., reacts during the StartmeupHK Venture Forum in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Tesla is looking for a Chinese production partner but is "still trying to figure that out," Musk said. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg via Getty Images - Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images
Billionaire Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc., reacts during the StartmeupHK Venture Forum in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Tesla is looking for a Chinese production partner but is "still trying to figure that out," Musk said. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Elon Musk released the second part of his "Master Plan" for Tesla Wednesday Night, which included the introduction of new types of electric vehicles, and an emphasis on solar power, autonomous driving, and the sharing economy.

Musk wrote that there are two types of electric vehicles "in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year": the Tesla Semi truck and buses with more seating. He also noted that a pick-up truck and small sport-utility vehicle are in the works as well.

Read More: Tesla Plans to Sell 500,000 Cars in 2018

Musk doubled down on autonomous driving, saying it would be "morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability." He indicated that Tesla would be taking on Uber, writing that "just by tapping a button," Tesla owners would be able to loan out their cars while they weren't using them:

When true self-driving is approved by regulators, it will mean that you will be able to summon your Tesla from pretty much anywhere. Once it picks you up, you will be able to sleep, read or do anything else enroute to your destination.

You will also be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you're at work or on vacation, significantly offsetting and at times potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost.

Solar power, too, is a major concern of the company's. Musk wrote that he hopes to create a "beautiful solar-roof-with-battery product," and said that Tesla and SolarCity (of which Musk is the largest shareholder) must be joined.

Musk summarized his plan with these four points:

You can read Musk's entire blog post here.

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