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Shares of Tesla (TSLA) are falling following the unveiling of Cybercab robotaxi
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Shares of Tesla (TSLA) are falling following the unveiling of Cybercab robotaxi

Tesla unveils its “Cybercab” on October 10, 2024 in Burbank, California.

Source: Tesla

Tesla Shares closed nearly 9% lower on Friday after the electric vehicle company’s highly anticipated robotaxi event failed to impress investors.

CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company’s Cybercab self-driving concept car – a low, silver two-seater, without steering wheels or pedals – at the company’s ‘We, Robot’ event on Thursday evening, highlighting his company’s ambitions to build a fleet of autonomous vehicles and robots.

Musk said the company hopes to produce the Cybercab before 2027, but did not provide details on where the cars will be produced. He said consumers can buy a Tesla Cybercab for less than $30,000.

He also said he expects Tesla to have “unsupervised FSD” operational in Texas and California next year in the company’s Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles. FSD, which stands for Full Self-Driving, is Tesla’s premium driver assistance system, which is available today in a ‘monitored’ version for Tesla electric vehicles.

Elon Musk unveils the Cybercab at the Tesla robotaxi event

The technology still requires a human driver at the wheel, who can steer or brake at any time.

With a closing price of $217.80 on Friday, Tesla shares are down 12% year-to-date and 17% over the past 12 months.

‘Pre-event momentum is buzzing’

In addition to the Cybercab, Musk also announced plans to produce an autonomous, electric Robovan that can carry up to twenty people, or be used to transport goods. He said it will “solve high density issues,” for example carrying a sports team.

After the event, Jeffries analysts published a note titled “We, Disappointed.”

Analysts at Barclays said the revelations failed to highlight any near-term opportunities for Tesla but prioritized Musk’s vision for a fully autonomous driving future.

“As expected, the event, like previous Tesla product unveilings, lacked detail and instead highlighted the vision underlying Tesla’s growth efforts in AI/AV (autonomous vehicles),” the wrote analysts from Barclays.

They added that the public “did not receive short-term updates on FSD progress, or data reflecting improvements in the system.”

Analysts at Piper Sandler wrote in a report that “most trade-oriented companies will be disappointed by the unveiling of the robo-taxi.”

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“We wouldn’t be surprised to see stocks sell off in the coming weeks as pre-event momentum fades,” the analysts wrote.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, said Musk failed to make the case at the event that Tesla is an artificial intelligence company. The analysts noted that Musk did not provide details about improvements to Tesla’s FSD system or comment on rumors of plans for a partnership between Tesla and xAI, Musk’s AI company.

The event “generally disappointed expectations in a number of areas: a lack of data on the rate of change in FSD/technology, ride-share economics and go-to-market strategy,” the analysts wrote from Morgan Stanley.

“We were overall disappointed with the content and details of the presentation,” she added. “As such, we expect TSLA to be under pressure following the event.”

What is clear after the event is that it will be years before Tesla has a fleet of self-driving cars on public roads, and regulators will have to take into account numerous concerns about the safety features built into the vehicles.

Paull Miller, an analyst at Forrester, told CNBC in an email that a $30,000 Cybercab won’t be coming anytime soon.

“It will be extremely difficult for Tesla to offer a new vehicle at that price in that time,” Miller said. “Economies of scale could eventually allow the company to reduce costs to nearly $30,000. Without external subsidies, or without Tesla losing out on every vehicle, it doesn’t seem likely to launch at anything near that price this decade. “

Alphabet Waymo, which has been offering its robotaxi service to the general public since June, is among the few companies that have successfully launched self-driving cars on public roads.

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