Tesla held a brief press conference, which surprised investors and left many questions.
On October 10th local time, Tesla held the "We, Robot" event at Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood. Due to a sudden illness on site, the event scheduled for 7pm (10am Beijing time on the 11th) was delayed by 55 minutes before starting, and quickly ended within half an hour.
After the event officially began, Tesla CEO Elon Musk rode on the highly anticipated autonomous taxi Robotaxi. The Tesla Robotaxi is named "Cybercab" and does not have a steering wheel or pedals, nor is it equipped with a charging port. Instead, it introduces induction charging technology.
According to Musk, the price of Cybercab will be below $30000 and is expected to be put into production before 2027. Musk said, "The upcoming autonomous taxi will be similar to the combination of Airbnb and Uber, and Tesla owners will be able to make money by adding their cars to their fleet
Meanwhile, as previously revealed by foreign media, Musk also announced the launch of the "Robovan" at the event, which can carry up to 20 people at a time, and showcased the Optimus humanoid robot in a live dance. Musk revealed that the cost of mass-produced Tesla Optimus humanoid robot is expected to be between $20000 and $30000, with a long-term selling price between $28000 and $30000.
After this short and concise press conference, foreign netizens praised the exterior design of Cybercab and Robovan on social media, calling them "epic". From the appearance, these vehicles with streamlined designs have a metallic luster, and Musk himself admits to referencing the classic science fiction movie Blade Runner.
However, this press conference seems to have failed to meet the expectations of some investors. Although after hours trading on the US stock market had already ended at the start of the event, investors can view 24/7 Tesla stock trading through Robinhood, an online brokerage firm in the United States. During the event, Tesla's stock price rose by over 3% at one point, but as the event quickly ended, the stock price fell slightly.
Due to past experience, Tesla often engages in "skipping tickets" when releasing new products, and foreign media has not confirmed the release prospects of Robotaxi.
The US technology media TheVerge commented that Robotaxi's debut can be seen as a milestone after years of false promises and delays. However, in the field of autonomous taxis, Tesla still lags behind companies such as Waymo and Cruise, whose autonomous vehicles have undergone millions of miles of road testing.
TechCrunch, a technology website, analyzed that if Tesla wants to commercialize L4 level autonomous driving, the company needs to prove its safety. In addition, Cybercab lacks a steering wheel and pedals, which would make it non compliant with US federal motor vehicle safety regulations.
At the event, Tesla neither introduced any technical details nor mentioned any information about Tesla's ride hailing service, nor provided any updates on Tesla's "economy" models.
After participating in the event, Nancy Tengler, CEO of Laffer Tengler Investments and Tesla investor, said, "The only specific piece of information is the $30000 pricing for Cybercab. All of these concepts are very grand. The idea behind Cybercab is certainly cool
Dennis Dick, a stock trader at Triple D Trading, bluntly stated, "Everything looks good, but there's no timetable. As a shareholder, I would be very disappointed. I think the market needs a clearer timetable
Previously, US investment bank Wedbush stated in a report on the 9th that they expect Tesla to demonstrate the Robotaxi prototype on site, and the market will closely monitor forecasts for the vehicle's release scale, cost per mile, and related ride hailing applications.
Some analysts believe that Tesla will eventually develop the technology needed for autonomous taxis, but Musk's time frame estimates have always been overly optimistic, and this goal will take at least a few more years to achieve.
Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, previously stated in an interview with foreign media that the number of times human drivers need to take over control in autonomous taxis may be far beyond imagination: "I think it will take another two years for this technology to mature, and then another two to three years to obtain the required regulatory approvals