Even if there’s a zombie apocalypse, you could still charge your Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) via their supercharger network, according to CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s annual meeting was on Tuesday, and CEO Elon Musk had numerous major announcements (14, to be exact) to discuss. Shares of Tesla have been falling over the last five days, but today as of this writing, they started to recover, rising as much as 3 percent.
Tesla posted a live blog of the meeting on its website, summing up the announcements from the meeting. We won’t go through all 14 of them here, but these are the basics according to group.
Tidbits About The Tesla Generation III Vehicle
Of course one of the big items Musk has been discussing recently is the automaker’s goal of creating a generation III vehicle for the mass market. A couple of the big announcements were in relation to the vehicle.
He said that it will have the form-factor of the Model S and that they will be trying to put autopilot technology on it. In addition, he said that Tesla’s gross margins on the vehicle will probably less than the 25 percent margin projected for both the Model S and the Model X. This will help Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) increase its market share while also improving its affordability for the mass market.
Tesla’s Gen III vehicle is expected to premier at the end of 2016, and Musk said in order to be “compelling, it must have a useful range of 200 miles.”
The Tesla Model X
The Model X, which is Tesla’s SUV, was also discussed at the meeting. It is still planned for late next year and will address both the SUV and the minivan markets. There will be pinch-strips so that fingers won’t get squashed in the falcon-wing doors. Also anyone who is shorter than 6’3” will supposedly be able to stand up in the second row of the vehicle.
The Model X promises to have the handling of a sports car but more functionality than a minivan.
Tesla’s Planned Expansions
The automaker is looking to expand sales, service and supercharging to the rest of the world by the middle of next year. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) will be expanding from 34 stores and galleries up to 50 over the next year. Musk said they see a lot of opportunity in Middle America and are planning to open up 70 new service centers. They’ll be listed at the automaker’s website before they open.
Musk also had a little bit to add to the recent announcement about the expansion of Tesla’s supercharger network. He said 120 kw isn’t the end of the improvements to their superchargers and that he expects to see either zero rent or tiny rent for supercharging. They also said that there would be a live demonstration of their quick charging on June 20.
He said they’re working on stationary storage like battery packs and also solar charging. “Long term, even if there is a zombie apocalypse or society crumbled, then even the chargers would work,” said Musk at the meeting.
