Tesla offered last Thursday an event with plenty of hype in their plan to rollout robotaxis, a bigger idea within their autonomous-driving vehicle push. However, the event left doubts as to the lack of details about the rollout plan itself, and most importantly, regulatory approval.
This event, according to experts from Yahoo Finance, and Reuters, only demonstrates the visible gap between the valuation of the stock price and what experts consider value. As stated by Yahoo Finance: “On Friday, more than $60 billion was wiped off of Tesla’s valuation in a selloff, a sharp reversal from the stock’s recent momentum. Shares had soared over 70% since Musk started touting AI in April. The rally brought Tesla’s market value to over $760 billion ahead of the robotaxi announcement— more than 14 times GM’s (GM) market cap and nearly 18 times Ford’s (F).”
The automaker founded by Elon Musk showcased at "We, Robot", an event held at Warner Bros. Studios, the Robovan and Cybercab concepts, two autonomous vehicle systems, fully self-driving with no actual steering wheel, accelerator pedal or brake pedal. According to Musk, the estimated price for the Cybercab is going to be $30,000, as part of a strategy aimed at making this available for mass transit projects worldwide. Musk also stated that his estimated running cost would be about 20 cents per mile, which is far less expensive than the estimated $1 per mile of a city bus.
The South African native also stated that he expected production of the Cybercab to begin in 2026, with availability of actual vehicles in 2027.
The lingering question, as always, is how will this affect the auto care industry? Telsa is well-known for not allowing third party experts to tap into the repair market, both on the software side, and parts supply. With many projected mass transit projects to adopt the Tesla models, will other automakers follow suit? And will they be more lenient in allowing the aftermarket auto car industry to perform the much-needed work…
