Elon Musk revealed Part 2 of his "master product plan" for Tesla on Wednesday evening.
In a blog post published on Tesla's website, Musk introduced a multi-year, four-pronged strategy that includes new kinds of Tesla vehicles, expanded solar initiatives, updates on Tesla's Autopilot technology and a ride-sharing program.
Some surmised that the timing of the announcement was a way for Musk to distract from recent headlines that have raised concerns about Tesla's Autopilot function and its troubles hitting vehicle-delivery targets.
Commercial trucks, buses, a "future compact SUV" and a "new kind of pickup truck" will be added to Tesla's fleet of electric cars. A heavy-duty truck called the Tesla Semi and a shrunken bus that Musk called a "high passenger density urban transport" vehicle are in early development stages "and should be ready for unveiling next year," he said.
The smaller bus would be designed without a center aisle, with seats close to the entrances, and will be able to automatically pace themselves with traffic, the post said. The bus driver would become a "fleet manager."
Musk defended his bid for rooftop solar power provider Solar City and discussed the evolution of the company's Autopilot driver-assist system.
"It's ambitious, taking on buses and public transport," said Jessica Caldwell, analyst at automotive research firm Edmunds. "He's covering a lot of industries, and might be spreading himself too thin in terms of what Tesla is able to manage."
Tesla is struggling to meet production goals for its next product, the relatively affordable Tesla 3, she noted. "If you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing on the small scale, how to you scale up to something so ambitious?"
Karl Brauer, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book, was even more downbeat. ""It's sadly not a very unique or original plan. What he's saying is 'I'm going to have autonomous vehicles that are purely electric driving around serving people's transportation needs.' Well, every automaker has already envisioned that and many are already working toward it."
Part 1 of Musk's master plan, published in 2006, was an ambitious document declaring four main goals: Musk would build an electric sports car, use the revenue from that car to build an affordable car, spend the profits from that vehicle to "build an even more affordable car," and "also provide zero-emission electric power generation options."
By this year, a decade after penning the manifesto, Musk had done much of what he'd planned. Tesla built and sold a high-priced sports car, the Roadster, and used the funds from that to build and market the Models S and X _ though at average transaction prices of more than $100,000, those are not exactly "affordable."
The revenue from those car sales has now funded development of that more affordable car, the promised $35,000 Model 3.
With Tesla's supercharger network of roadside charging facilities, its gigafactory battery plant in Nevada, and its Powerwall home-charging units, Musk has addressed the question of "power generation options."
Along the way, Musk became a Wall Street darling, and managed to grow his Silicon Valley start-up into a funding magnet with a market capitalization of $32 billion.
But he has faced his share of critics and controversy along the way.
Most recently, Tesla is facing investigation after a driver died in a Model S while using the autopilot function.
Also this month, Tesla announced that shipments of the high-end luxury electric vehicles had not reached projected levels in its second quarter, after having announced in April that it had failed to reach projected goals in its first quarter.
And Musk has been under fire for Tesla's $2.5 billion bid for Tesla's sister company Solar City. Critics of the proposed deal said that Musk, who is chairman of that company and owns 22 percent of its stock, had offered many multiples more than the solar panel company was worth and would ultimately leave Tesla shareholders paying for the inflated deal.
