Tesla CEO Elon Musk instructed shareholders that the EV maker may have an annual run price of two million automobiles by the top of this 12 months and can proceed to construct new factories to hitch the 4 it at present has in operation.

Musk mentioned Tesla might announce a brand new manufacturing unit location as quickly as this 12 months.

Tesla is concentrating on an annual output of 20 million automobiles a 12 months, which Musk mentioned would require 10 or 12 “gigafactories” with capability of 1.5 to 2 million automobiles every. 

Complete Tesla manufacturing in 2021 was simply over 1 million automobiles, however Musk mentioned Thursday that the present run price was 1.5 million automobiles from 4 factories: Fremont, California; Shanghai; Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany; and Austin, Texas.

“If all goes as deliberate, we will likely be exiting 2022 at a 2 million annual run price,” Musk mentioned, including that manufacturing in Tesla’s two latest factories, in Germany and Texas, was dealing with “10,000” small issues that had been being solved “one by one.”

The annual shareholders’ assembly got here two weeks after Tesla reported a leap in second-quarter income linked to cost will increase.

Tesla’s latest automotive, the Mannequin Y midsize crossover, is already the automaker’s greatest promoting automobile by income, he mentioned, and in 2023 could be the quantity chief.

The Mannequin Y, with about 40,000 gross sales in Europe via June, already barely outsold the Mannequin 3 sedan, in keeping with market analyst firm Dataforce.

Tesla’s most anticipated new mannequin, the Cybertruck, is scheduled to start out manufacturing in Texas in the course of subsequent 12 months, he mentioned, with the primary manufacturing tools to be put in within the coming months.

Musk mentioned the pricing and specs for the Cybertruck had modified since reservations opened in 2019, because of inflation and different exterior components.

“Rather a lot has modified since then,” he mentioned, including that there was no technique to anticipate inflation.

Musk mentioned that the worst of the present surge in inflation was most likely previous, given Tesla’s monitoring of commodity costs, however a “average” recession was most likely in retailer for the U.S. that would final 18 months.

“We’re seeing in most of our commodities — greater than half — the costs are trending down in six months,” he mentioned, “which suggests we’re previous peak inflation.”

In distinction to the Lehman Brothers disaster of 2008, the basics of the U.S. financial system stay sturdy, he mentioned.

“I feel inflation will drop quickly, and we’ll have a light to average recession within the subsequent 18 months,” Musk mentioned.

Musk touched on different matters on the assembly, which was held on the Texas manufacturing unit. Amongst them:

• Manufacturing: Musk mentioned the important thing to Tesla’s long-term profitability is its manufacturing technique, which goals to rethink how automobiles are constructed. He pointed to the “Giga Press,” which casts structural components in a single piece aluminum that may substitute a whole lot of particular person welded metal components. “Everybody may have EVs and ultimately all automobiles will likely be self driving, however the factor that will likely be hardest to copy is Tesla’s manufacturing technique,” he mentioned.
• Self-driving: Tesla hopes to have widespread Full Self-Driving (its highest stage of driver help, which nonetheless requires the driving force to concentrate) beta testing accessible this 12 months within the U.S., though Mercedes has already acquired approval in Germany for its personal “Stage 3” self-driving system. “We have made some fairly important architectural enhancements” within the system, Musk mentioned, pointing to advances in making complicated left turns throughout visitors.
• CEO succession: With a long-term product highway map, Musk mentioned, “Tesla would proceed to do very properly even when I used to be kidnapped by aliens.” “I intend to stick with Tesla so long as I might be helpful,” he added. “The corporate has a really vivid future even with out me.”