Elon Musk has finally revealed the second part of Tesla's 'top secret' masterplan - here it is

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elon musk

Asa Mathat D: All Things Digital

Elon Musk finally announced his big plans to take Tesla Motors to the next level. 

On Wednesday evening Musk revealed that his company plans to roll out at least two more affordable cars in addition to the Model 3, get into the solar industry in a big way, and advance the autonomy of Tesla cars.

What's more, though, Tesla said it plans to launch a mobility service that lets Tesla owners share their vehicle when they aren't using it, and make money from it. 

"You will also be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you're at work or on vacation, significantly offsetting and at times potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost," Musk said in a company blog post.

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"This dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where almost anyone could own a Tesla," Musk said.

"Since most cars are only in use by their owner for 5% to 10% of the day, the fundamental economic utility of a true self-driving car is likely to be several times that of a car which is not. In cities where demand exceeds the supply of customer-owned cars, Tesla will operate its own fleet, ensuring you can always hail a ride from us no matter where you are." 

Previously, Musk had hinted that Tesla might be moving in this direction.

In April, Musk said he had an idea for a mobility service that could "solve the density problem in intercity situations." However, at the time, he didn't go into great details about Tesla's plans. 

"We have an idea for something which is not exactly a bus, but would solve the density problem in intercity situations. I think we need to rethink the whole concept of public transport and create something that people are actually gonna like a lot more. I don't want to talk too much about it," he said at the time. 

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Musk also hinted at Tesla's plans of a mobility service last November during the company's third quarter conference call. 

When an analyst asked Musk about the possibility of Tesla getting into an Uber-like service, Musk gave the following response: 

"There is a right time to make announcements and this is not that time," Musk said, adding that such a service was not yet "fully-baked."

Well, now it appears the idea is fully baked and the company will move into mobility service one and for all. 

The solar news, of course, wasn't completely out of the blue. 

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In June, Tesla announced that it has made an offer to buy SolarCity, a solar power company of which Elon Musk is the chairman. SolarCity's CEO, Lyndon Rive, also happens to be Musk's cousin.

While shareholders of both companies still have to vote on the deal before it is approved, Musk said the deal makes perfect sense.

"The opportunity here is to have a highly innovative sustainable energy company that answers the whole energy question from power generation and storage to transport," Musk told reporters during a call shortly after the announcement.

"We are a sustainable energy company, this is, broadly speaking, right in line with that. In order to solve the sustainable energy problem you need generation, storage, and electric cars," he said.