Tesla Investor Day 2023 has come and gone, and we’ve got a few important clues about the company’s plans.
Tesla has been making headlines in the automotive industry for years. The electric vehicle (EV) company is known for its groundbreaking technology, innovation, and commitment to sustainability. On March 1, 2023, Tesla held its Investor Day, a highly anticipated event that provided insights into the company’s future plans. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive overview of everything that Elon Musk and other executives shared at the event, as well as what they skipped.
Overview of Tesla Investor Day 2023
Tesla’s Investor Day 2023 was a much-awaited event that took place at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California. The event attracted investors, industry experts, and Tesla enthusiasts from all over the world. The primary goal of the event was to provide insights into Tesla’s current projects, future plans, and long-term vision.
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, along with other executives, presented the company’s vision for the future, new products, technology, and updates on existing projects. The event was streamed live on Tesla’s official website and other social media platforms.
20 million EV production goal
By 2030, the company aims to produce 20 million electric vehicles per year, as revealed at Tesla Investor Day in 2023. This is not a new goal for Tesla, but executives at the event presented their plans for achieving it, including improving manufacturing, design, raw materials, charging, and batteries.
Tesla’s current lineup includes the Model S, Model X, Model Y, and Model 3, as well as the Tesla Semi and Cybertruck, with two other upcoming vehicles teased. It’s important to note that Tesla produced 1.37 million and delivered 1.31 million vehicles in 2022, while Toyota, the global sales leader, sold 10.5 million vehicles last year.
This means Tesla needs to increase its production and sales by around 15 times from 2022. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the challenge is not demand but rather production capacity. To achieve this goal, Tesla plans to vertically integrate, scale up existing factories and build new ones, make the manufacturing process more efficient, and introduce a few more models, but not too many, with a total of around 10.
Updates on Self-Driving Technology
Another major highlight of Tesla Investor Day 2023 was the updates on Tesla’s self-driving technology. Elon Musk shared that the company is on track to achieve full autonomy by 2025. He also revealed that Tesla has developed a new chip, the Full Self-Driving Computer (FSD), which is ten times more powerful than the previous generation.
The FSD chip is expected to be installed in all new Tesla vehicles in 2024. The chip will enable Tesla’s vehicles to achieve full autonomy without the need for human intervention.
Two new factories
At the Tesla Investor Day 2023, Drew Baglino, the Senior VP of Powertrain and Energy Engineering, announced that Tesla has broken ground on a new lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, as part of their vertical integration efforts to control the materials used in their battery cells. The lithium refinery is expected to produce 50 gigawatt-hours per year and become operational by the end of 2023, with production starting within 12 months.
Elon Musk later mentioned in a Q&A session that a cathode processing facility will be built next to the lithium refinery, and the company would prefer if others took on lithium mining. Musk also announced that the next Tesla gigafactory will be built in Mexico near Monterey, as confirmed by Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Musk added that the new factory will supplement the output of all existing factories and teased a grand opening event. No other details were shared on Tesla Investor Day 2023.
Vehicles to be unveiled
During the Tesla Investor Day 2023, the company showcased two mysterious vehicles that gave a glimpse into how it plans to build its future models on a brand new platform design. Tesla intends to incorporate automation in the production process to enable faster and cheaper scaling. This involves building different parts of the car independently and assembling them only once in their designated positions, which would give both humans and robots more room to work on separate components.
The process would entail assembling the front, rear, and floor with seats separately before joining them at the final assembly. This approach would lead to a greater than 40% reduction in factory footprint, enabling Tesla to build factories faster, with less capex and greater output per unit dollar. However, no further details were provided on the upcoming models, except that the same design may be used for the Cybertruck.
A new drive unit
Tesla is developing a new drive unit for its next-gen vehicles that will eliminate the use of rare earth materials, making it more scalable and affordable. The new powertrain will also use 75% less silicone carbide without compromising performance or efficiency and will be compatible with any battery chemistry, giving Tesla more flexibility in battery sourcing as stated in Tesla Investor Day 2023.
Additionally, Tesla also unveiled their plans to switch home, business, and industrial heating to heat pumps and may consider building heat pumps for homes on Tesla Investor Day 2023.
Tesla has also introduced Magic Dock, an upgrade to its charging stations that enables non-Tesla EVs to use them, and plans to add a $30 “unlimited overnight home charging” plan to Tesla Electric in July. The company aims to expand its electric plan into other areas and will debut new energy storage products in 2023.
Updates on Tesla Robot
We got some further updates on Tesla Robot, Optimus at Tesla Investor Day 2023 too.
Tesla has released a video of two humanoid robots building another bot, giving a glimpse of the progress made on its upcoming Optimus robot since it was first shown in October 2021. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, said that the Optimus robot will use the same AI technology that trains Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems, and that much of its hardware will be taken from Tesla’s cars, such as its custom-designed actuators.
Musk added that Tesla has the capability to bring the humanoid robot to market at scale, but the timing is still unclear. He also suggested that the ratio of humans to robots will be greater than one-to-one, as the robots can be used in homes and industrial settings. It is unclear how the Optimus robot fits into Tesla’s plans for a sustainable energy future for Earth.
What they skipped?
While Tesla Investor Day 2023 was packed with information, there were a few things that Elon Musk and other executives skipped over. For example, there was no mention of the Cybertruck, which has been highly anticipated since its unveiling in 2019. Additionally, there was no mention of the company’s plans for expanding its charging network, which is crucial for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
Tesla Investor Day 2023 gave us a glimpse of the huge company’s 2023 plans. We hope that just like at the beginning of 2020, Elon Musk will appear with innovations that will shake the technology world this year.
