Tesla robotaxi event was long on promises, but investors wanted more details
By Chris Kirkham
LOS ANGELES, Oct 10 (Reuters) -For a businessman who perpetually struggles with broken promises, Elon Musk gave himself quite a to-do list Thursday night at Tesla's TSLA.O long-awaited Hollywood unveiling of its driverless robotaxis.
After traversing the fake streets of the Warner Bros movie studio set in a sleek, silver two-door "Cybercab" prototype, Musk promised that the company's popular Model 3 and Model Y vehicles would be able to operate without driver supervision in California and Texas by next year.
He said the company would start building the fully autonomous Cybercab by 2026 at a price of less than $30,000, and showed off a robovan capable of transporting 20 people around town - products he said would reshape cities by "turning parking lots into parks."
Later came the dancing humanoid robots that also mixed drinks at the bar. Tesla will sell those, too, Musk said, eventually for $20,000 to $30,000 a piece. "I think this will be the biggest product ever, of any kind," he declared.
Thursday night's electronic dance music-infused event had the signature trappings of Musk's salesmanship, but some Tesla investors and experts said they were hoping for more concrete details on how the company plans to transform from an automaker into an autonomous driving and artificial intelligence titan with a solid business plan.
"His vision is lovely, but somebody has to actualize it," said Ross Gerber, a Tesla shareholder and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management. "For now, for the next 24 months, Tesla has to sell EVs. Why aren't we focused on that?"
Gerber said he was happy to see products like the Cybercab and the robovan, but hoped to also see a more traditional, lower-priced mass-market vehicle that the company could sell in the near future.
Musk had for years pledged to sell a car expected to start at about $25,000, a promise that investors saw as critical to winning new customers. Reuters reported exclusively on April 5 that Tesla had abandoned this project, initially sending Tesla shares down. Musk responded by posting later that day on X that Tesla would unveil a robotaxi on Aug. 8, which was later delayed to October.
'YEARS BEHIND'
Tesla is aiming to leapfrog incumbent self-driving players, including Alphabet's GOOGL.O Waymo, by pursuing a lower-cost technological path that Musk believes will allow the company to scale up its autonomous vehicles far quicker than rivals.
Tesla's strategy is simpler and much cheaper than that of its rivals, but has critical weaknesses. Chief among those is that the AI technology underpinning its self-driving system makes it nearly impossible to pinpoint why a crash or other failure occurred - something that could concern regulators.
"Tesla software is at least years behind where Waymo is. That's the hard part. No flashy vehicle design is going to change that," said Matthew Wansley, professor at New York's Cardozo School of Law.
Tesla's rivals use similar AI and camera technology, but layer on so-called redundant systems and more-expensive sensors as a safety precaution.
Ramesh Poola, co-chief investment officer at Creative Planning, which holds Tesla shares, said he was impressed by the presentation but "obviously, we were looking for more details on what exactly his future plans are going to be and how he's going to monetize this new AI and robotics."
In particular, Poola said he anticipates regulators will pose a "major hurdle" to Musk's plans to shift to unsupervised autonomous driving by next year. Tesla's current "Full Self-Driving" driver-assistance feature cannot be operated safely without a human driver paying constant attention.
"He's shown the prototypes and definitely there's some excitement around it," Poola said. But widespread adoption of autonomous Cybercabs, where riders can hail rides through an Uber-style app, are still "maybe three to four years away," he said.
That is not necessarily a bad thing, Poola said, adding that he will be telling clients not to sell Tesla stock. "There are lots and lots of avenues to monetize this technology," he said. "Cybercab may not necessarily be next year, but down the road, the viability is there."
Musk had previously said he planned to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app. He made no mention of the app at Thursday's event.
Tasha Keeney, director of investment analysis at Tesla investor ARK Investment Management, said she had been hoping for more specifics on the app.
However, Keeney said she was encouraged by Musk's timeline of offering an unsupervised version of its full self-driving system in Texas and California next year.
"If they can do that, I don't see why they wouldn't launch a robotaxi service soon after," she said.
INSIGHT-Tesla's robotaxi push hinges on 'black box' AI gamble https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-gambles-black-box-ai-tech-robotaxis-2024-10-10/
EXCLUSIVE-Tesla scraps low-cost car plans amid fierce Chinese EV competition https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-scraps-low-cost-car-plans-amid-fierce-chinese-ev-competition-2024-04-05/
Reporting by Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Akash Sriram and Abhirup Roy; Editing by Brian Thevenot, Sayantani Ghosh and Christopher Cushing
Ähnliche Finanzinstrumente
Neueste News
Rechtlicher Hinweis: Die Unternehmen der XM Group bieten Dienstleistungen ausschließlich zur Ausführung an sowie Zugang zu unserer Online-Handelsplattform. Durch diese können Personen die verfügbaren Inhalte auf oder über die Internetseite betrachten und/oder nutzen. Eine Änderung oder Erweiterung dieser Regelung ist nicht vorgesehen und findet nicht statt. Der Zugang wird stets geregelt durch folgende Vorschriften: (i) Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen; (ii) Risikowarnungen und (iii) Vollständiger rechtlicher Hinweis. Die bereitgestellten Inhalte sind somit lediglich als allgemeine Informationen zu verstehen. Bitte beachten Sie, dass die Inhalte auf unserer Online-Handelsplattform keine Aufforderung und kein Angebot zum Abschluss von Transaktionen auf den Finanzmärkten darstellen. Der Handel auf Finanzmärkten birgt ein hohes Risiko für Ihr eingesetztes Kapital.
Sämtliche Materialien, die auf unserer Online-Handelsplattform veröffentlicht sind, dienen ausschließlich dem Zweck der Weiterbildung und Information. Die Materialien beinhalten keine Beratung und Empfehlung im Hinblick auf Finanzen, Anlagesteuer oder Handel und sollten nicht als eine dahingehende Beratung und Empfehlung aufgefasst werden. Zudem enthalten die Materialien keine Aufzeichnungen unserer Handelspreise sowie kein Angebot und keine Aufforderung für jegliche Transaktionen mit Finanzinstrumenten oder unverlangte Werbemaßnahmen für Sie zum Thema Finanzen. Die Materialien sollten auch nicht dahingehend aufgefasst werden.
Alle Inhalte von Dritten und die von XM bereitgestellten Inhalte sowie die auf dieser Internetseite zur Verfügung gestellten Meinungen, Nachrichten, Forschungsergebnisse, Analysen, Kurse, sonstigen Informationen oder Links zu Seiten von Dritten werden ohne Gewähr bereitgestellt. Sie sind als allgemeine Kommentare zum Marktgeschehen zu verstehen und stellen keine Anlageberatung dar. Soweit ein Inhalt als Anlageforschung aufgefasst wird, müssen Sie beachten und akzeptieren, dass der Inhalt nicht in Übereinstimmung mit gesetzlichen Bestimmungen zur Förderung der Unabhängigkeit der Anlageforschung erstellt wurde. Somit ist der Inhalt als Werbemitteilung unter Beachtung der geltenden Gesetze und Vorschriften anzusehen. Bitte stellen Sie sicher, dass Sie unseren Hinweis auf die nicht unabhängige Anlageforschung und die Risikowarnung im Hinblick auf die vorstehenden Informationen gelesen und zur Kenntnis genommen haben, die Sie hier finden.
