2024 Tesla Shareholder Meeting: Elon Musk Points Out 20 Business Priorities

On June 13, the 2024 Tesla Shareholder Meeting was held in Texas. Elon Musk shared numerous insights on business development, industry trends, and company performance, and demonstrating a strong commitment to a sustainable future. Reflecting on the past and looking to the future, Musk stated at the event: "Tesla is opening a new chapter, like turning the page of a fresh book. We have made significant progress in advancing our electrification, artificial intelligence, energy storage, and solar sustainable energy initiatives. Tesla is doing something that only a few people currently understand, while most of the world has yet to grasp it."

Here are the 20 key business priorities Elon Musk mentioned at the meeting.

1. I recommend everyone to test drive the FSD (Full Self-Driving) V12. Each version update of FSD is improving at an exponential rate, ultimately achieving fully autonomous driving without supervision. Without a doubt, its safety will far surpass that of human driving.

2. Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD capabilities will soon be able to "go out and make money" on their own when idle. The income generated for the owners will far exceed the monthly car expenses.

Perhaps after a certain OTA software update, millions of autonomous vehicles could be available overnight, operating 50 to 60 hours per week.

3. We have made significant progress in carbon reduction. In the era of autonomous driving, the utilization rate of a single car will increase by more than five times, which is crucial for reducing carbon emissions.

According to Tesla's 2023 Impact Report, in 2023, Tesla's global customers reduced carbon dioxide emissions by over 20 million tons, equivalent to avoiding the carbon emissions from 51 billion miles driven by gasoline cars.

4. Tesla's vehicle production is highly water-efficient and energy-efficient. We strive to power our factories with renewable energy whenever possible and make every effort to do the right thing.

Since 2018, the water usage per vehicle has decreased by nearly 25%, which is significantly lower than the industry average of 3.37 cubic meters. Compared to the Fremont factory, the Shanghai Gigafactory uses 35% less energy per vehicle produced.

5. Tesla vehicle batteries have a longer lifespan. Our battery packs are designed to last longer than the typical life cycle of a daily-use car.

After driving 320,000 kilometers (equivalent to circling the Earth's equator eight times), the effective battery capacity of Model 3/Y remains at 85%.

6. We continue to improve the affordability of electric vehicles. The Model Y, which is comparable to the BMW X3, has a much lower total cost of ownership over its entire lifecycle, including the purchase price.

According to relevant data, in 2023, the lifecycle cost per kilometer for the Model Y is only 3.07 yuan, significantly lower than the 5.12 yuan per kilometer for the comparable luxury gasoline brand BMW X3. This greatly reduces the cost of vehicle ownership.

7. Tesla is the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer in 2023, with over 7 million cars produced by the end of this year. The Fremont factory is currently the highest-output factory in North America, breaking previous production records.

8. The Cybertruck has set a record of producing 1,300 vehicles per week, with a goal of reaching a weekly production of 2,500 vehicles by the end of this year. As the Cybertruck enters other markets, we may consider introducing different versions.

9. If you ask five or six-year-old kids which car they like the most, they'll say the Cybertruck. Kids have no filters because it’s a truly captivating and rare product: a 48V low-voltage architecture, the world's largest integrated casting machine, more towing power than a Ford F-350, and it can outrun a Porsche 911 while towing one...

10. The newly upgraded Model 3 is an exceptional car, offering better value for money compared to luxury gasoline brands, with several performance metrics that even surpass those of the Porsche 911.

11. In 2023, the Model Y has become the world's best-selling vehicle, and it is set to remain the best-selling car globally in 2024.

12. We are continuing to expand the Supercharger network significantly, with plans to invest an additional $500 million this year. Any areas not yet covered on the map will see new Tesla Superchargers installed. We are also continuously opening the Supercharger network to other electric vehicle brands. Our goal is to make Tesla accessible everywhere.

13. This year, we will continue to achieve substantial energy deployments, with the annual growth rate of installed energy storage consistently remaining between 200% and 300%.

14. Tesla is not just an electric vehicle company; it is also an artificial intelligence software company and a leader in real-world AI. Additionally, it has already achieved profitability in services and other areas.

15. We started from scratch and developed our own chips, building our AI software from the ground up. We now possess the world's best real-world AI software and the best AI chips. The fifth-generation autonomous driving hardware (HW5.0) is currently in development, with capabilities ten times greater than the fourth generation.

16. Based on billions of miles of real-world driving data, Tesla's vast fleet is crucial for collecting massive amounts of real-world road anomalies. Solving the autonomous driving challenge is impossible without millions of cars.

17. From the early days when people pretended to dance in robot costumes, to today where robots are performing actual tasks in factories, we have made tremendous progress in robotics. Currently, at the Fremont factory, two robots are responsible for removing battery cells from the end of the production line and placing them into shipping containers.

18. By next year, we expect to have thousands of Optimus robots working in Tesla factories. You'll be able to interact with them directly; they will learn and perform tasks by watching human videos. The next generation of robots will even be capable of playing the piano.

19. In the future, the ratio of humanoid robots to humans will exceed 1:1. There will be over 10 billion humanoid robots worldwide, with Tesla clearly leading in this field. The market for Optimus robots is projected to reach $25-30 trillion.

20. Tesla has the best real-world AI and excels at large-scale manufacturing. In the future, we will be able to mass-produce Optimus robots for $10,000 each and sell them for around $20,000, making them cheaper than cars.

As Tesla stated on social media: Along the way, Elon Musk has led Tesla from a loss-making enterprise to a world-changing company.

Under his leadership, Tesla has achieved the following milestones since 2018:

2018

Model 3 production reached 5,000 units per week.
Model 3 became the best-selling electric vehicle in the US.
Nevada Gigafactory's annual battery production reached 20 GWh.
Autopilot Navigation was launched.
Model 3 became the best-selling electric vehicle globally.

2019

First deliveries of Model 3 to customers in China and Europe.
First unveiling of Model Y.
First unveiling of the Cybertruck.
Shanghai Gigafactory started production just 11 months after breaking ground.
Delivered over 367,000 electric vehicles worldwide.
Cumulative global installed energy storage surpassed 3.2 GWh, with 1.65 GWh installed that year.
First release of the third-generation Solar Roof (Solar Roof V3).
Deployed over 4,000 Superchargers.

2020

Announced 4680 battery technology on "Battery Day."
Tesla became the most valuable car company (market capitalization exceeded $400 billion).
Achieved full-year profitability for the first time in company history.
Delivered nearly 500,000 electric vehicles globally.
Installed energy storage capacity reached 3.02 GWh.
Model Y production began at the Fremont factory.
Shanghai Gigafactory's annual production reached 250,000 vehicles.
Launched the FSD (Full Self-Driving) beta version.
Over 23,000 Superchargers were operational worldwide.
Model 3 became the best-selling luxury sedan globally in Q4.

2021

Delivered over 930,000 electric vehicles globally.
Installed energy storage capacity reached 3.99 GWh.
Achieved record annual revenue of $53.8 billion and record annual profit of $5.5 billion.
First unveiled the humanoid robot Optimus.
Released new Model S/X.
Produced the 1 millionth Model 3.
Began opening Tesla’s global Supercharger network to other electric vehicles.
Over 30,000 Superchargers were operational worldwide.

2022

Began deliveries of Model Y from the Berlin Gigafactory and Texas Gigafactory.
Delivered over 1.3 million electric vehicles globally, setting a new record.
Produced the 1 millionth 4680 battery cell.
Delivered the first batch of Semi electric trucks to PepsiCo.
Any user in the US and Canada who purchased FSD (Full Self-Driving) could apply for the FSD beta version.
Model S Plaid set a production car lap record at the Nürburgring.
Cumulative installed energy storage capacity surpassed 16 GWh.
Over 40,000 Superchargers were operational worldwide.
Expanded Tesla Insurance to multiple US states.

2023

Model Y became the best-selling vehicle globally.
Over 1 million Teslas were on the road in Europe.
Produced the 20 millionth 4680 battery cell.
Both the Berlin Gigafactory and Texas Gigafactory reached a production rate of 5,000 vehicles per week.
Shanghai Gigafactory achieved full production capacity.
Tesla’s Supercharger standard was adopted by more companies, becoming the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
Powerwall entered four new markets, reaching 500,000 installations worldwide.
Released the new Powerwall 3.
Launched the new Model 3 in Europe and Asia.
Began first deliveries of the Cybertruck.
Cumulative installed energy storage capacity surpassed 31 GWh.
Released the second generation of the humanoid robot Optimus.
Over 50,000 Superchargers were operational worldwide.
Released the fourth-generation Supercharger.

2024

Rolled out the supervised version of FSD using an end-to-end neural network to customers in the US and Canada.
Began deliveries of the new Model 3 in North America.
Installed 600,000 Powerwalls globally.
Model Y received the highest safety rating from IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety).
Produced the 6 millionth Tesla vehicle globally.
Cumulative FSD (Full Self-Driving) mileage surpassed 1 billion miles (approximately 1.6 billion kilometers).
Achieved a Cybertruck production rate of 1,000 vehicles per week.
Continued smooth ramp-up of 4680 battery production capacity.
Completed three major design versions and four hand versions of Optimus over the past two years; Optimus now autonomously navigates and walks daily in Tesla offices and labs.
Two Optimus humanoid robots are autonomously performing tasks in Tesla factories.

It's only June, and the excitement continues!