Martin Viecha, Tesla’s head of investor relations, spoke at an invitation-only Goldman Sachs technology conference on Monday to explain to a wide range of investors where Tesla is headed in the next five years. From highlighting the potential for lower car manufacturing costs to looking at the future of Tesla’s fully automated driving software (FSD), he also mentioned the development of robotaxi services at the end.
Viecha emphasized that the cost of manufacturing each Tesla electric vehicle is a key metric to focus on in the coming years, as it determines the company’s vehicle capacity as well as future growth. in 2017, Tesla’s cost to build each vehicle was $84,000. In recent quarters, the price per vehicle has dropped to $36,000. The price drop is not due to lower battery costs; rather, it is because Tesla is benefiting from better vehicle design, a faster manufacturing process, and a new factory design.
Viecha added that Tesla’s superfactory in Fremont, California, which accounts for about half of Tesla’s production, is not the right place to build cars, and that superfactories, including Shanghai and Berlin, require lower costs. Tesla’s profitability will go up as well.
The company hopes to continue this trajectory and push the cost boundaries of producing electric cars.
According to the Tesla executive, there have only been two major revolutions in manufacturing in the 120-year history of the auto industry. One was the advent of the Ford Model T, and the other was the “lean manufacturing” model created by Toyota in the 1970s.
“The electric vehicle architecture is so different from the internal combustion engine that it will allow for the third revolution in car manufacturing,” Viecha said.
The discussion then moved to Tesla’s Fully Automated Driving (FSD) software service. About 100,000 people are currently using “supervised” FSD on U.S. city streets, where drivers can intervene while driving. He predicted that, based on Tesla’s existing data, supervised FSD could be rolled out to all U.S. owners of Tesla by the end of this year.
Tesla FSD software
But he also stressed that it is “supervised autonomy” and that drivers still need to be aware or they could lose access to the service.
Faced with the controversy over FSD in the U.S., the executive hopes Tesla will gather more data from the intervention and roll out software updates to improve the system. He added that this iterative process will eventually allow Tesla to achieve full autonomy.
“We’re convinced that massive data collection and artificial intelligence is the only way to solve the problem, and that’s the way we’re going to go,” Viecha said.
Finally, he described the Model X and S as Tesla’s first-generation platforms. the Model 3 and Model Y are the second generation, and the robotaxi (driverless cab) platform will be the third. Tesla needs to offer cheaper cars before its company-operated self-driving cab service can be launched.
At Tesla’s first-quarter earnings meeting this year, Elon Musk confirmed that the company’s Robotaxi model will have a steering wheel or pedal-less design and is expected to be in mass production by 2024.
