Well, it finally happened.
Tesla’s (TSLA) hotly anticipated robotaxis hit the streets of Austin this weekend, and the first wave of feedback is trickling in.
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Whether you’re a bull or a bear, it’s hard to ignore this moment with Tesla. The EV giant’s efforts to roll out a robotaxi have been coming for a long time. We’re talking years of stops, starts, and bold promises.
Finally, though, the launch is officially in the books.
Early takes are out, and you can bet that the Wall Street pundits aren’t far behind.
Image source: Apu Gomes/Getty Images
Robotaxi launch caps years of big promises
Let’s be real, Tesla’s robotaxi event has been years in the making, so it’s not just about what happened on Sunday.
Related: Veteran Tesla analyst makes boldest robotaxi call yet
Tesla’s maverick CEO, Elon Musk, first dropped the whole steering-wheel-free “Cybercab” idea in 2022. Subsequently, the launch dates came and went, and investors started losing patience.
The EV powerhouse continues to hype robotaxi reveals in 2023 and again in 2024, but with no actual rollout, the doubts started piling up.
Earlier this year, however, things started to pick up, with Musk doubling down in April that the service would launch on June 22 in Austin.
Nevertheless, lawmakers in Texas wanted to put the brakes on until September, when the updated AV regulations kicked in. Also, the recent safety incidents made things even messier.
Despite the speed bumps, Tesla stayed on course with what could be its most important long-term bet.
Longtime Tesla bulls like Wedbush’s Dan Ives feel that if robotaxis scale successfully, they could add $1 trillion in incremental market value by 2026. If not, the EV behemoth risks a 30% to 50% drop in valuation.
The big picture here is the long-term opportunity Tesla sees, and the potential for robotaxis to redefine the future of mobility.
Musk plans to prove that every parked Tesla could be an income-generating asset.
The goal is to let owners add their cars to a citywide, driverless fleet so that anyone can hail one like an Uber, with Tesla and the owner sharing the fare.
More Tesla Stock News:
- Tesla robotaxi launch hits major speed bump
- Musk’s AI chatbot weighs in on Tesla stock and Robotaxi
- Tesla’s robotaxi rollout runs into trouble
As the service scales up, the AI-powered software continues to improve, helping Tesla run a high-margin mobility service, letting users make money 24/7.
Tesla’s Robotaxi rollout off to a mixed start
After all the talk, Tesla’s robotaxi finally went live in Austin yesterday, and the reactions are all over the place.
Let’s start things off with the fine print, because it was far from being a total win just yet.
Related: Tesla’s robotaxi rollout is alarming the public, new report shows
The service wasn’t open to the general public or completely “unsupervised,” as Musk once promised. It operated in a relatively tiny geofenced zone of Austin from 6 AM to 12 AM, avoiding iffy weather, highways, airports, and complicated intersections.
Multiple invitees complained about not receiving the robotaxi app by 1 PM on Sunday. Also, Sawyer Meritt, a popular Tesla influencer, said he saw 30 Waymo vehicles pass while waiting for the robotaxi service to kick off.
Another letdown was that each robotaxi-branded Model Y had a Tesla safety monitor riding shotgun, ready to hit a kill switch if things went south. Most companies usually do that in the testing phase, but Tesla’s doing it in actual service.
Having a person step in questions Musk’s bold promise of driverless cars and the overall state of full autonomy.
On a more positive note, many invite-only testers felt the interface was virtually the same as Uber. Apart from a few hiccups with wait times and pickup locations, many praised the rides as “smooth,” “great,” and “normal.”
The tech held up well, handling turns, bumps, and people at safe speeds. Though an issue or two needed some backup, this rollout was a careful first move.
Unsurprisingly, Musk was effusive in his praise for the pilot event.
Taking to X, Musk hailed it as “the culmination of a decade of hard work”, congratulating Tesla’s AI software and chip design teams for a seamless launch.
Overall, though, the event is a cautious first step, which opens the door for a fully driverless operation. Nevertheless, Mr.Market’s reaction can swing both ways, and it will be interesting to see how things shape up.
