At its product launch event in Los Angeles, Tesla unveiled two new autonomous vehicles, leading to a decline of over 8% in its stock price during the trading day.
At the event titled "Era of Machinery," Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the Cybercab, an autonomous taxi. Additionally, he announced the upcoming Robovan autonomous bus and the latest version of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot.
The Cybercab is an electric two-seater vehicle inspired by Tesla's Cybertruck. It features upward-opening gull-wing doors and a wireless charging system, eliminating the need for power cord connections to charge its battery. Notably, the Cybercab does not include a steering wheel or pedals.
During the launch, Musk stated that Tesla plans to commence production of the Cybercab in 2027, aiming to sell it for under $30,000. He added that the operational cost for the Cybercab is estimated to be approximately 20 cents per mile.
The drop in Tesla's stock reflects investor concerns regarding the new vehicle. A fund manager interviewed by CNBC suggested that Tesla should design the Cybercab as a five-seater rather than a two-seater. Others expressed worry over Musk's lack of technical details presented at the launch.
Another possible reason for the tepid investor response to the Cybercab is Tesla's production target set for 2026. Some market analysts believe this timeline suggests that Tesla won't generate revenue from this model for several years, increasing dependence on existing models and potentially impacting sales growth.
Furthermore, it remains uncertain whether Tesla can successfully produce the Cybercab within Musk's specified timeframe. In 2019, Musk predicted that Tesla would launch one million autonomous taxis by 2020. He made similar forecasts in the following years, but Tesla's fully autonomous driving technology is still under development.
Tesla's product development plans go beyond the Cybercab. At this week's event, Musk also announced the Robovan, a larger autonomous vehicle. It can function as a 20-seat bus or be used for freight transportation. Musk indicated that Robovan will be optimized for densely populated urban areas but did not disclose key details such as production start dates.
During the event, attendees also saw prototypes of several Optimus humanoid robots. Tesla's designed robots were shown interacting directly with the audience, though it is unclear whether these interactions were autonomous or assisted by human operators.
Musk revealed that Tesla aims to sell these robots to consumers for $20,000 to $30,000 each. If Tesla successfully develops competitively priced consumer robots, it may also pursue enterprise versions for logistics warehouses and similar facilities. Currently, multiple venture-backed startups are developing such systems.
