Elon Musk's Tesla Does The Math To Show $4B Can Be Saved If Clean Energy Is Chosen Over Fossil Fuels

The Master Plan 3 document released by Tesla, Inc. TSLA weighed in on the cost advantage of clean energy versus fossil fuels.

What Happened:  Building manufacturing infrastructure of the sustainable energy economy will cost $10 trillion over a 20-year investment period, Tesla said in the document. 

This takes into account the cost of setting up and operating facilities, mining and refining operations for battery materials and hydrogen storage salt cavern installation.

Apart from the initial capital expenditure, the estimate also models a 5% per year maintenance capex over the 20-year horizon.

As opposed to this, Tesla projects that about $14 trillion needs to be spent over 20 years on fossil fuels at the 2022 investment rate.

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Battery Tech:  Tesla estimated that the world's vehicle fleet, consisting of 1.4 billion cars and with an annual production of 85 million units, would require 112 terawatt-hours of batteries.

According to the document, Tesla is also planning to launch a compact car with a 53-kilowatt-hour battery pack.

The company also suggested the use of lower energy density chemistries such as lithium-iron-phosphate for standard-range vehicles and higher-energy density chemistries with high nickel for long-range vehicles.

“In a sustainable energy economy, material extraction will decrease by 10.8Gt – with most fossil fuel extraction replaced by 3.3Gt of renewable material extraction,” Tesla said.

EVs Are Energy Efficient:  Tesla said EVs are about four times more efficient than ICE vehicles due to higher powertrain efficiency, regenerate braking capability and optimized platform design.

The company noted that its Model 3 gives 131 miles per gallon equivalent compared to 34 miles per gallon for a Toyota Motor Corp.’s Corolla.

In premarket trading on Thursday, Tesla stock edged up 0.22% to $185.93, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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