Energy
Tesla’s Master Plan turns 15 years old: What Elon Musk’s company has achieved so far
Fifteen years ago today, on August 2nd, 2006, Co-Founder and CEO of what was then called “Tesla Motors” Elon Musk put out his top-secret Master Plan. Essentially, the cleverly titled document outlined what Musk envisioned for Tesla a few years before it would ever pump an electric vehicle off its production lines. Musk, who has built Tesla from nothing to the world’s most valuable automaker, with the help of employees and other executives, of course, showed the plan that would take the company to the top. At the tail-end of the document, the general ideas of the “Master Plan” are explicitly listed, giving anyone with even a glimmer of skepticism a clear-cut plan of what was to come.
Musk’s four bullet points cleverly stated:
- Build sports car
- Use that money to build an affordable car
- Use that money to build an even more affordable car
- While doing above, also provide zero-emission electric power generation options.
1. Build a sports car
The Tesla Roadster was the automaker’s first car. Priced exclusively for those who were financially viable and well-known, the Roadster was essentially a fundraising device used by Tesla to get its name out there and generate capital for a second all-electric car. “Almost any new technology initially has high unit cost before it can be optimized, and this is no less true for electric cars,” Musk wrote in 2006. “The strategy of Tesla is to enter at the high end of the market, where customers are prepared to pay a premium, and then drive down market as fast as possible to higher unit volume and lower prices with each successive model.”
This is exactly what was accomplished. The Roadster was bought by celebrities and wealthy figures of the public who were driving an all-electric, sustainable vehicle that did not contribute to the global environmental crisis that was upon us. The Roadster was snagged up by stars like Olivia Newton-John, Leonardo DiCaprio, and others, all as a way to generate money so Tesla could dive into developing its next project: the Model S.
The Original Tesla Roadster (Credit: carforyou.ch)
2. Use that money to build an affordable car
“Without giving away too much, I can say that the second model will be a sporty four-door family car at roughly half the $89k price point of the Tesla Roadster,” Musk said when speaking of the Model S before any concrete details were known.
Since the Model S was first released in 2012, it has accumulated several significant awards, including Motortrend’s Car of the Year award on several occasions. The Model S has also held high standards for crash safety and ranks among the safest vehicles on the market. After being reimagined with the recent release of the Model S Plaid, the flagship sedan from Tesla is better than ever before and is recognized as the fastest production car on the planet.
The Tesla Model S Plaid (Credit: Tesla)
3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car
This is where Musk’s plan takes a slight detour. The Model X was actually produced before the Model 3, and it was not more affordable than the Model S. However, Musk’s recognition that Tesla customers needed a family vehicle ultimately put the Model X ahead of the Model 3. However, the plan was still going relatively well. The Roadster funneled money to the Model S program, which ultimately cultivated in the Model X. The Model 3 followed in 2017 and became Tesla’s first mass-market vehicle.
The Tesla Model X (Credit: Tesla)
It was not an easy road to this point, however. Musk commonly refers to the Model 3 ramp as “production hell,” which was likely one of the most challenging phases of his life, likely comparable to when Tesla and SpaceX were nearly bankrupt in late 2008. The Model 3 ramp was met with difficulty due to scalability, production quality, and other bottlenecks that ultimately made the process much tougher than ever imagined. Musk has said that Tesla was on the verge of bankruptcy during the early phases of Model 3 production, stating that doors were about a month away from closing. It was “extreme stress & pain for a long time.”
Much like anything difficult, the Model 3 ramp was undoubtedly worth it. The vehicle managed to make Tesla a money-maker, and directly contributed to the company’s ongoing streak of profitable quarters. The Model 3 is on par with its sibling Model Y, which has become Tesla’s most popular car. The Model 3 still contributes substantially to the automaker’s increasing delivery and production figures that rise on a quarter-over-quarter basis to this day.
The Tesla Model 3 (Credit: Tesla)
4. While doing above, also provide zero-emission electric power generation options
While Tesla is most commonly noted for its vehicles, its energy division does not receive enough credit. Tesla Energy has continued to grow every quarter, and energy deployment and generation figures increase with every quarterly update the company provides. Most recently, Tesla stated that energy storage deployments more than tripled Year-over-Year in Q2, mainly driven by Megapack projects. Powerwall, Tesla’s residential energy storage option, continues to be in high demand and nearly doubled YoY in Q2. Additionally, Tesla’s solar deployments more than tripled YoY, reaching 85 MW in Q2.
Tesla’s energy program has helped residents worldwide avoid blackouts and power outages while also accumulating significant amounts of energy directly from the sun.
(Credit: Tesla)
It is pretty safe to say that Tesla has done an outstanding job keeping up with Elon Musk’s top-secret Master Plan. But one last thing:
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.
Hard to believe it’s been 15 years already.
Those goals actually precede the creation of Tesla by many years. Goes back to probably ~1992 when I was in college. However, at the time, I thought the chance of achieving those goals was very low.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2021
Energy
Tesla Energy celebrates one decade of sustainability
Tesla Energy has gone far since its early days, and it is now becoming a progressively bigger part of the company.
Tesla Energy recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a dedicated video showcasing several of its milestones over the past decade.
Tesla Energy has gone far since its early days, and it is now becoming a progressively bigger part of the company.
Tesla Energy Early Days
When Elon Musk launched Tesla Energy in 2015, he noted that the business is a fundamental transformation of how the world works. To start, Tesla Energy offered the Powerwall, a 7 kWh/10 kWh home battery system, and the Powerpack, a grid-capable 100 kWh battery block that is designed for scalability. A few days after the products’ launch, Musk noted that Tesla had received 38,000 reservations for the Powerwall and 2,500 reservations for the Powerpack.
Tesla Energy’s beginnings would herald its quiet growth, with the company later announcing products like the Solar Roof tile, which is yet to be ramped, and the successor to the Powerwall, the 13.5 kWh Powerwall 2. In recent years, Tesla Energy also launched its Powerwall 3 home battery and the massive Megapack, a 3.9 MWh monster of a battery unit that has become the backbone for energy storage systems across the globe.
Key Milestones
As noted by Tesla Energy in its recent video, it has now established facilities that allow the company to manufacture 20,000 units of the Megapack every year, which should help grow the 23 GWh worth of Megapacks that have already been deployed globally.
The Powerwall remains a desirable home battery as well, with more than 850,000 units installed worldwide. These translate to 12 GWh of residential entry storage delivered to date. Just like the Megapack, Tesla is also ramping its production of the Powerwall, allowing the division to grow even more.
Tesla Energy’s Role
While Tesla Energy does not catch as much headlines as the company’s electric vehicle businesses, its contributions to the company’s bottom line have been growing. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Tesla Energy deployed 10.4 GWh of energy storage products. Powerwall deployments also crossed 1 GWh in one quarter for the first time. As per Tesla in its Q1 2025 Update Letter, the gross margin for the Energy division has improved sequentially as well.
Tesla Energy shined in what was a weak delivery report for the first quarter, as the company’s frequently-forgotten battery storage products performed extraordinarily well.
Tesla reported its Q1 production, delivery, and deployment figures for the first quarter of the year, and while many were less-than-excited about the automotive side, the Energy division performed well with 10.4 GWh of energy storage products deployed during the first quarter.
This was a 156 percent increase year-over-year and the company’s second-best quarter in terms of energy deployments to date. Only Q4 2024 was better, as 11 GWh was recorded.
Tesla Energy is frequently forgotten and not talked about enough. The company has continued to deploy massive energy storage projects across the globe, and as it recorded 31.5 GWh of deployments last year, 2025 is already looking as if it will be a record-setting year if it continues at this pace.
Tesla Megapacks to back one of Europe’s largest energy storage sites
Although Energy performed well, many investors are privy to that of the automotive division’s performance, which is where some concern lies. Tesla had a weak quarter for deliveries, missing Wall Street estimates by a considerable margin.
There are two very likely reasons as to why this happened: the first is Tesla’s switchover to the new Model Y at its production facilities across the globe. Tesla said it lost “several weeks” of production due to the updating of manufacturing lines as it rolled out a new version of its all-electric crossover.
Secondly, Tesla could be facing some pressure from pushback against the brand, which is what many analysts will say. Despite the publicity of attacks on Tesla drivers and their vehicles, as well as the company’s showrooms, it would be safe to assume that we will have a better picture painted of what the issue is in Q2 after the company reports numbers in July.
If Tesla is still struggling with lackluster delivery figures in Q2 after the Model Y is ramped and deliveries are more predictable and consistent, we could see where the argument for brand damage is legitimate. However, we are more prone to believe the Model Y, which accounts for most of Tesla’s sales, and its production ramp is likely the cause for what happened in Q1.
In what was a relatively bleak quarter, Tesla Energy still shines as the bright spot for the quarter.
Tesla has chosen the location of its latest manufacturing project, a facility that will churn out the Megapack, a large-scale energy storage system for solar energy projects. It has chosen Waller County, Texas, as the location of the new plant, according to a Commissioners Court meeting that occurred on Wednesday, March 5.
Around midday, members of the Waller County Commissioners Court approved a tax abatement agreement that will bring Tesla to its area, along with an estimated 1,500 jobs. The plant will be located at the Empire West Industrial Park in the Brookshire part of town.
Brookshire also plans to consider a tax abatement for Tesla at its meeting next Thursday.
The project will see a one million square-foot building make way for Tesla to build Megapack battery storage units, according to Covering Katy News, which first reported on the company’s intention to build a plant for its energy product.
CEO Elon Musk confirmed on the company’s Q4 2024 Earnings Call in late January that it had officially started building its third Megapack plant, but did not disclose any location:
“So, we have our second factory, which is in Shanghai, that’s starting operation, and we’re building a third factory. So, we’re trying to ramp output of the stationary battery storage as quickly as possible.”
Tesla plans third Megafactory after breaking energy records in 2024
The Megapack has been a high-demand item as more energy storage projects have started developing. Across the globe, regions are looking for ways to avert the loss of power in the event of a natural disaster or simple power outage.
This is where Megapack comes in, as it stores energy and keeps the lights on when the main grid is unable to provide electricity.
Vince Yokom of the Waller County Economic Development Partnership, commented on Tesla’s planned Megapack facility:
“I want to thank Tesla for investing in Waller County and Brookshire. This will be a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for their Megapack product. It is a powerful battery unit that provides energy storage and support to help stabilize the grid and prevent outages.”
Tesla has had a lease on the building where it will manufacture the Megapacks since October 2021. However, it was occupied by a third-party logistics company that handled the company’s car parts.
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