Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, recently released his company’s fourth “Master Plan.” This bold, highly prescriptive document has sparked a firestorm of criticism and discussion on its clarity and specificity versus its visionary intent. This new plan continues the trend skeptical of the first and second Master Plans. It calls for a number of ambitious Deliverables, including the development of fully autonomous vehicles and the integration of Tesla automobiles into a shared network. The new CEO’s latest iteration seems to fall short on the details that many of the CEO’s stakeholders have gotten used to expecting from the CEO.
Musk’s original plans drew praise for their specific targets. The second Master Plan aimed to enhance Tesla’s self-driving autonomy with breakthrough over-the-air software releases. It imagined a huge fleet of shared vehicles, letting owners seamlessly add or remove their cars from the network. In addition, Musk was under some pressure because he had promised to debut a small SUV, a semitruck, a pickup and an electric bus.
More recently, Musk took four hours of his time — and other executives’ — to lay out the details of the third Master Plan. Just as Gallo had wished, he admitted the heat received over the plan’s lack of details. He acknowledged frustration with how much more vague the newest draft is than the previous ones.
“The hallmark of meritocracy is creating opportunities that enable each person to use their skills to accomplish whatever they imagine.” – Elon Musk
In the face of these criticisms, Musk did tell investors and shareholders that Tesla would keep everyone posted with more information as things progressed. You can see his musings in their entirety on X.com, but here are his main ideas. Unfortunately, his messages were lost in the noise of a conversation that veered off to other issues such as transphobia and immigration, prompting many observers to doubt his agenda.
Curiously, both the original and revised Master Plans are now absent from Tesla’s website — something Musk would applaud. This deletion raises troubling questions about Tesla’s continued commitment to transparency. It calls into question the company’s sincerity in trying to separate itself from previous unmet commitments.
Tesla is running a small, invite-only robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. Safety provisions in this service include the presence of safety monitors, who will ride in the front passenger seat to keep operations safe during these testings. This development represents a practical step toward achieving some goals outlined in previous plans, albeit without the comprehensive details that characterized earlier documents.
That’s right, Musk … invested $300 million to get one of his favored candidates elected president. This is the same candidate, mind you, who is opposed to moving away from cleaner and more sustainable energy alternatives. This new political engagement is at serious odds with Tesla’s core mission of accelerating the world’s transition to electric vehicles and sustainable practices.
Opponents are already scrutinizing the new Master Plan for any ambiguous language. How exactly this vagueness will impact Tesla’s future in an increasingly competitive landscape that values transparency and responsibility remains to be seen. Of course, Musk has never wavered in his zealous advocacy for Tesla’s lofty aspirations. His willingness to admit that their fluffy plans need to be more substantive could signal a change in approach as the company continues to develop its playbook.