Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads, the
Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company and Neurolink.
I'm your host Will Walden. Have you ever wondered when
Tesla will finally unveil its robo taxi?
Now think of it like the long-awaited release of Avatar
Two, one of the best movies ever.
In my opinion, it's worth the wait for the promised
advancements in technology. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on
Monday that the company will take additional time to
introduce its Robo taxi, allowing for a crucial design
change to the vehicle's front and to show off other
enhancements. But Elon didn't provide a
specific date for the robo taxi unveiling event, according to
Bloomberg News, which reported last week that the event,
originally scheduled for August 8th, has been postponed until
October. Now on X, Musk responded to a
user discussing the event, stating requested.
What I think is an important design change for the front and
extra time allows us to show off a few other things now.
A person familiar with the matter confirmed on Friday that
the robo taxi event has been delayed, but did not provide
further details. This development comes as Tesla
continues to navigate the complex engineering and
regulatory challenges of developing robo taxis and
autonomous driving systems. Now, some analysis out there and
Tesla investors, we're not surprised by the delay.
The path to fully autonomous vehicles is fraught with
obstacles. We've been promised full self
driving, complete full self driving for years now, but
haven't got it. And delays are not uncommon in
this technical field. Now, Musk had initially
announced the August unveiling date shortly after Reuters
reported on April 5th that Tesla had cancelled its long promise
inexpensive car, the $25,000 Tesla, to focus on developing
self driving robo taxis on the same small vehicle platform.
Now, Elon has offered scant details about the robo taxi thus
far. We don't really know much.
He has mentioned that some vehicles would be owned and
operated by Tesla though, while others would be privately owned
by people like us and rented out via Tesla's network.
And there'll be specific vehicles that'll be able to do
this. Probably future vehicles, the
one that you have now, probably won't be able to be in this
fleet due to hardware constraints now.
Tesla stocks surged on Monday after Musk publicly endorsed
Donald Trump in the US presidential race, fueling
speculation that a Trump administration might ease
regulatory approval for Tesla's robo taxis in autonomous driving
systems. Now in 2022, Musk claimed that
Tesla aimed to mass produce a robotaxi without a steering
wheel or pedals by 2024, despite missing several previous targets
for self driving vehicles and following the news of Musk's
endorsement, Tesla shares rose 5% in afternoon trading.
The endorsement was seen as potentially favorable for
Tesla's future regulatory landscape.
Now their commitment to fully autonomous robotaxi involves
creating a vehicle from scratch, designed to be driverless.
Nothing like what we've seen before, but probably similar to
a Model 3. Now, this initiative stands
alongside the company's ongoing efforts to update existing
vehicles like the Model Y with self driving capabilities via
software updates. Now, hints about the robotaxi's
design suggest it may resemble the cyber truck inside, but
there's also hints of the Model 3A.
Speculation about the interior has been fueled by a video Tesla
released, but concrete details remain scarce.
Initially set for an August 8th debut, the unveiling is now
anticipated to occur closer to the end of the year, giving
Tesla additional time to refine the vehicle, make it look pretty
for the presentation, and produce more prototypes.
Make sure that thing is stage ready next time Elon.
Don't go throwing anything through windows like you did
with a cyber truck now. Reactions to the delay varied
among analysts and investors. Tesla investor Ross Gerber
criticized the delay as another broken promise from Elon,
drawing parallels to pass delays with the cyber truck.
But now we have the cyber truck, so it's all good.
And Wedbush Securities tech analyst Dan Ives, however,
suggests that the delay was insignificant in the grand
scheme, a view counter by Gerber, who noted that Tesla
projects frequently missed deadlines.
Some users supported Musk's approach, preferring the delay
if it means a better final product.
Others criticized Musk on X, with one user posting a
compilation of Musk's promises about the robotaxi dating all
the way back to 2014. And amidst these discussions,
UBS downgraded Tesla's stock to a sell rating unless Joseph.
SPAC cited concerns over the company's inflated stock price
heavily dependent on future growth prospects that might not
materialize as highly as anticipated now.
SPAC's note emphasized that while Tesla's investments in AI
are substantial, the associated costs are high and the ROI may
be slow and uncertain. It suggested that if market
enthusiasm for AI wanes, Tesla's valuation could be adversely
affected. Now, the delay in the robotaxi
unveiling has sparked a mix of skepticism and support.
Musk's confirmation of the delay, coupled with a statement
about the design change, shows that Tesla is focusing solely on
the robotaxi. It will meet the high standards
of Tesla and Elon and also the public.
And while the timeline has shifted, the anticipation will
continue to build until we get our Robotaxi.
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