Tesla Changes Mission From 'Transport' to 'Energy'

Elon Musk is thinking up part 2 of the Tesla master plan, and a subtle change in the “About” section of Tesla’s website hints at what’s next: a focus shift from “sustainable transport” to “sustainable energy.”

The one-word shift, noticed by Bloomberg, represents an entire company shift. The future that Musk envisioned and laid out in his first master plan in 2006 (build an affordable electric car) will be complete with the Model 3.

Just one word — “energy” — means that part two will likely be much, much more grand.

”Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

Tesla is already more than just a transport company. It makes batteries, and will be making a whole lot more of them when the Gigafactory is complete. Musk also recently made a controversial move to buy SolarCity and add solar panels into Tesla’s services. Investors initially hated it while Musk maintained that he has “zero doubt” about the acquisition. Judging by the rise in market price in the face of the first fatal autonomous crash, Musk knew what he was talking about.

Inverse compared the current “About” page to one from March, and “energy” is the only word changed on the entire page, in the headline. The stated mission in the opening paragraph still says the mission is about “sustainable transport.”

So what does this small but noticeable change mean? Most likely that Musk is preparing a clean future for us all, beyond just cars.

Then:

Now: