Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Mountain View, California on Tuesday, telling investors, "It won't be long before we have a 400-mile range car." He also said that sometime next year, Tesla drivers will be able to use self-driving features in their vehicles without intervention. Musk said, "Every car made since October 2016 is capable for full autonomy with replacement of the computer alone." He also added, "We'll still need regulatory approval but the capability will be there. This massively increases the value of the car. In fact, I think it's basically financially insane to buy anything except an electric car that is upgradable to autonomy."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during the unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y in Hawthorne, California on March 14, 2019. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

(It would be unprecedented for a car to appreciate in value near-term. It is rare when cars become a collectors' choice, and gain value over a longer time.) When asked about Tesla's financial prospects for 2019, Musk said, "Profitability is always challenging if you're a fast-growing company." He said that Tesla is on target to grow its entire "fleet" by 60% to 80% this year, and said, "It's hard to be profitable with that level of growth." He said the company could be cash-flow positive while growing at that rate. Tesla CTO and co-founder JB Straubel, who has rarely been seen in public in recent days, joined Musk on stage at the meeting to thank teams that built the company's battery tech and massive US battery plant, the Gigafactory. Tesla jointly owns and operates that factory with Panasonic, its primary supplier of cellsor its vehicle batteries today.