Tesla has decided to postpone the unveiling of its “robotaxi” design until October rather than next month.
The company reportedly requires additional time to construct the prototypes. The target date for the unveiling had been August 8.
Following the announcement, Tesla’s stock fell more than 8% to $241.03 on Thursday, capping off 11 consecutive sessions of gains that had sent the stock up 44%. The company is banking on self-driving vehicles rather than cheaper automobiles.
Instead of releasing its long-awaited cheap car, Tesla will stick with its small-vehicle platform for autonomous robotaxi development.
Musk has been vague about Robotaxi thus far, other than announcing a reveal date. Some cars will be owned and operated by Tesla, and some will be owned by people and rented out through Tesla’s network.
Due to technological, legal, and technical constraints, experts predict that the development of robotaxis and autonomous driving systems will be a lengthy and challenging process.
However, not all investors expressed extreme worry over the news.
According to Jamie Meyers, a senior analyst at Laffer Tengler Investments, which has Tesla holdings, two months doesn’t change the big picture.
Meyers feels Elon and company are getting their ducks in a row to do his launch right.
In response to a decline in sales of electric vehicles—which account for over 80% of Tesla’s quarterly revenue—Musk has been investing heavily in AI, autonomous driving software, robotaxis, and the Optimus humanoid robot.
In April, Musk made an unscheduled visit to Beijing to negotiate the launch of its fully autonomous software and other data-transfer authorizations.
Tesla enthusiasts eagerly waited for the event’s date. It also helped fuel Tesla’s stock price surge in recent months, which increased the company’s market valuation by almost $257 billion. But some of it is gone now that the stock price dropped once the delay was announced.
Early in the day, Tesla was trading at $263 and eventually reached $270. But within two hours, it fell, dropping about 10% of its $270 high in only 30 minutes.
