Elon Musk is returning to his industry-shaking ways again. With the production of the Model X crossover looming ever closer on the horizon, a stock offering achieving a scarcely believable $200 per share, whispers of an AWD system making it to the Model S and design of a cheaper mid-size sedan well under way at the Silicon Valley start-up, the determined CEO has yet even more plans in mind for his ground-breaking business.
On the heels of these recent reports, the Californian visionary seems to be adding gasoline (ironic ain’t it?) to the ever-growing firestorm of rumors surrounding the all-electric company. After a short outing with Model-S owners in Norway, Musk hinted at confronting the one Achilles’ heel hindering the widespread success of the trendy 4-door; Its range.
For Musk, this means the possibility of even larger, and more efficient battery packs arriving even within the next calendar year. Currently, the most powerful energy system in the Model S contains 85 kWh of electricity, good for a rather impressive 265 miles of all-electric cruising; yet the company has its eyes set on even more mainstream and less costly systems in the near future.
During the informal conversation Musk stated that “there is the potential for bigger battery packs in the future, but it would probably be maybe next year or something like that. The main focus is . . . how do we reduce the cost per kWh of storage in the battery pack?” Inherently, his motives are aimed at the more cost-effective production of the electric powerplant driving the smaller sedan set to be released by Tesla in the coming years, rather than the outright range increase for the current Model S.
The company is said to be aiming for a reduction in cost per kWh by an ambitious 30-40 percent, meaning an even more accessible electric vehicle for the masses. Critical to achieving this daring goal is the construction of a certain “gigafactory” which is slated to produce a monumental 30 gigawatt-hours worth of battery packs each year, said to eclipse the entire world’s production of lithium-ion batteries for the year 2012.
One thing we do know for certain is that Elon Musk is not at a loss for game-changing ideas, and if this man can overcome the inherent obstacles between his company and automotive immortality, don’t be surprised if in a few short years, you too are driving one all-American electric Tesla.
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