According to a recent report, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is telling investors that the company’s investment in self-driving technology will make the electric car manufacturer a $500 billion company.
CNBC reports that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is betting big on self-driving technology, telling investors that the company’s investment in self-driving technology will make Tesla a $500 billion company. Musk’s latest promises came during an investors call as the company attempts to raise $2 billion in new funds.
CNBC writes:
Musk confidently told investors on the call that autonomous driving will transform Tesla into a company with a $500 billion market cap, these people said. Its current market cap stands around $42 billion. He also said that existing Teslas will increase in value as self-driving capabilities are added via software, and will be worth up to $250,000 within three years.
The call came as the company is looking to raise $650 million in equity and $1.35 billion in convertible bonds. Filings indicate that Tesla plans to use the capital for general corporate purposes. On the call, Musk said Tesla would be able to fund its business needs through cash flow, but that it was wise to have a buffer in case of a recession or weak global auto demand.
Kirkhorn reminded investors on the call that nothing has changed in Tesla’s outlook for Q2. The company still expects to deliver 90,000 to 100,000 vehicles in the second quarter, and 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles total this year.
Musk claimed that competitors working on driverless technology are behind Tesla as he claims that his company already has fleets of cars on the road while other companies such as Google’s Waymo and General Motors Cruise are performing extensive security and safety tests. Musk also claimed that due to regular software updates, unlike every other car in the world Tesla vehicles would actually increase in value over time:
The hundreds of thousands of Teslas already on the road constantly slurp up data and send it back to Tesla’s servers, which helps the company improve and advance its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems. Meanwhile, the company’s self-driving computers, which it started working on about three years ago, are exclusive to Tesla and allegedly use less power in the vehicle than offerings from competitors like Nvidia.
Musk reiterated that because Teslas can be upgraded “over-the-air” with new software-enabled features and functionality, they will appreciate in value, unlike nearly every other car on the market. A Tesla will be worth $150,000 to $250,000 in 3 years, he claimed. He also said that a full self-driving upgrade will increase the value of any Tesla by a half order of magnitude, or five times.
Despite Musk’s latest explosive claims, when it came down to discussing the facts and figures of Tesla, company executives were not particularly forthcoming with details:
On Thursday’s investor call, according to the people who heard it, Musk and other Tesla execs declined to give details when it came to more pragmatic issues like where the company’s order book stands today, what they are doing to ameliorate problems with Tesla service and repairs, how much income Tesla expects to generate from regulatory credits for the rest of this year, and who will supply battery cells to Tesla in Asia as it begins manufacturing Model 3s in Shanghai.
One person asked what Tesla could do to improve its gross margins from the approximately 20% reported in the first quarter of 2019. The company previously promised it could achieve 25% margins.
Musk told investors Tesla would try to improve efficiency in its supply chain, but would feel good about 20% gross margins moving forward.
But he also tried to drive the conversation back to autonomy, calling it the fundamental driver of value for Tesla, and urged investors to stop nit-picking over vehicle margins.
Read the full article in CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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