Latest news with #Cybercab
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla's robotaxi rollout runs into trouble
Tesla's robotaxi rollout runs into trouble originally appeared on TheStreet. Just when Tesla's () robotaxi dreams started gaining steam—bam, another curveball. Tesla bulls have been itching for robotaxis to hit the road, and Elon Musk's Austin trial announcement stirred the pot last month. 💵💰💰💵 Though the dream's still alive, the detours have been piling up of late, spelling more speed bumps ahead for investors. The timing couldn't be worse. The bulls felt they could breathe easy, with Musk finally all-in on Tesla. However, the off-putting developments of late spell more turbulence ahead for the robotaxi rollout. Since Tesla revealed the sci-fi-esque Cybercab last October, investors and Wall Street pundits have hailed it as the next revolution. To be fair, the robotaxi hype's been circling for promised a million cars on the road by 2020, but that deadline famously came and went like a ghost. Following the October reveal, Tesla fans felt shortchanged when Musk jumped on President Trump's bandwagon. The focus quickly shifted away from the self-driving cars to 'DOGE' government drama. However, after Q1 and soap-opera-like fallout with Trump, Musk's focus is back on Tesla. He told investors during Tesla's Q1 earnings call that 'Doge work is mostly done,' pledging just 'a day or two a week' on outside commitments. Needless to say, a lot is riding on the robotaxi catalyst, the moonshot analysts say, which could supercharge Tesla's future. More Tesla Stock News: Tesla robotaxi launch hits major speed bump Musk's AI chatbot weighs in on Tesla stock and Robotaxi SpaceX faces a surprising rival Tesla is already battling Wedbush's Dan Ives sees a trillion-dollar upside if Tesla nails self-driving. At the same time, relatively conservative Oppenheimer analysts say it could be a make-or-break for the stock. Tesla circled June 22 for its big robotaxi debut in Austin. Musk picked Texas for a reason: home turf with a lot looser autonomous vehicle (AV) rules than just days before go-time, Texas lawmakers have sent a disappointing message. A group out of Austin urged Tesla to hold off until September 1, when new AV rules kick in. The new rules include safety checks and clearer compliance rules. Seven Texas lawmakers have reportedly signed the hold-off on the rollout. The list includes big names like Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin), Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, Rep. Lulu Flores, and three others—seven in total. Despite the roadblocks, Tesla is still on course for the trials. Tesla's official stance remains that it has already met safety standards under the current law and will continue pushing on. The message is essentially for Tesla to pump the brakes, follow the new rules, and launch later when everything complies. The pressure is unwelcome from the company's perspective, especially when it has received an AV operator designation in Austin ahead of the planned trials. All this hits as Tesla's FSD tech is under scrutiny, throwing safety concerns back in the spotlight. To put things in perspective, a Cybertruck drifted into oncoming traffic on FSD in mid-June. Days later, a Model 3 got stuck on train tracks and got hit. Meanwhile, Tesla's competition in the niche continues to impress. Alphabet's Waymo and GM's Cruise have successfully operated driverless ride-hailing services in cities like Phoenix and San Francisco over the past few years. In contrast to Tesla, they've taken a more gradual approach, with geofenced areas, extensive safety driver testing, and slower expansion. Tesla is taking a more aggressive route by utilizing its existing owner fleet and vision-only tech, which many believe is riskier. Nevertheless, Tesla needs to act fast to pull its stock out of the rut it's been in over the past year. It's down north of 20% YTD, and 27% in the past six months alone. The stock is hovering near the low $320s, suggesting that some of the robotaxi excitement and Musk's refocusing efforts are baked into its price. Analysts' average targets sit around the low $300s, so the market isn't looking to price in the potential wild success. In short, Tesla's stock looks more like a bet on its ability to transition from simply selling EVs to monetizing autonomous technology at robotaxi rollout runs into trouble first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 19, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why Wedbush Says Tesla's Market Cap Could Be on Road to $2T After This Weekend
Tesla could be on the path to doubling its market cap by the end of next year, according to Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives. The EV maker is scheduled to launch its robotaxi service this weekend, with 10 to 20 vehicles operating autonomously on the streets of Austin, Texas. The stock has recovered most of the ground it lost as CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump traded insults online earlier this (TSLA) market capitalization, currently hovering just over $1 trillion, could start down the road to doubling in value by the end of 2026 if its robotaxi launch goes well this weekend, Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives wrote Friday. Keeping their "outperform" rating and Street-high $500 price target, Ives and his colleagues wrote Friday that they "believe the march to a $2 trillion valuation for TSLA over the next 12 to 18 months has now begun in our view with [Full Self-Driving] and autonomous penetration of Tesla's installed base and the acceleration of Cybercab in the US representing the golden goose." Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that the company was tentatively targeting a June 22 launch for its robotaxi program in Austin, Texas. The analysts said invites have been sent out "giving selected Tesla users permission to use the Model Y Robotaxi service starting on Sunday." Musk has said the plan is to start with 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles carrying paying passengers fully autonomously around a specific, "geo-fenced" area of Austin. Tesla plans to eventually expand to more vehicles in several other cities, and allow Tesla owners to add their vehicle to an Uber (UBER)-like fleet, and start producing the Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals next year. Also Friday, Tesla announced on Chinese social media service Weibo that it has signed an agreement to build its first grid-scale battery power plant in China. Bullish analysts have been eager to shift focus for Tesla stock to the robotaxi launch and away from Musk's public split with President Donald Trump earlier this month, while more bearish analysts have said the feud could complicate the company's regulatory path. Earlier this week, a group of Texas lawmakers sent Tesla a letter asking the EV maker to pause its robotaxi launch until a new version of its autonomous vehicle regulations go into effect at the start of September. Tesla shares rose less than 1% in recent trading to about $324. They are down about 20% on the year, but have recovered most of the ground lost as Musk and Trump traded online barbs earlier this month. Read the original article on Investopedia Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla is set to launch its robotaxi service in Austin this weekend, entering a crowded autonomous vehicle field
The launch of Tesla's robotaxi service is tentatively set for this weekend in Austin, Texas, entering a crowded arena of autonomous vehicles already operating in the city. Tesla is competing with driverless Waymo taxis that are already transporting people around the city, while Amazon's Zoox and Volkswagen are testing robotaxis there too. Tesla's driverless taxi service launch has been highly anticipated by investors and fans, however, officials and lawmakers have expressed automotive safety concerns. On Wednesday, Texas lawmakers sent a letter to Tesla urging the company to delay its robotaxi service launch until September, when a new state law regulating autonomous vehicles takes effect. It adds to another letter, sent by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to Tesla last month, asking for additional safety information about its robotaxi rollout. That same month, Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, acknowledged the need for national regulations around autonomous vehicles. 'It's going to be important to have a unified set of national regulations for self-driving cars,' he told CNBC. 'Otherwise, you're going to get into this weird situation where, if you're driving from Maine to New York, you're going to go through 10 different sets of regulations. Cars are going to behave differently. It's not going to make any sense.' Here's what we know about the driverless service set to launch this weekend. For the initial launch of the fully autonomous ride-hailing robotaxi service, Tesla will use its internal fleet of Model Y electric vehicles, updated with the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, without a driver. If the autonomous cars run into a safety issue, a remote driver can step in and take control of the vehicle. The Cybercab is Tesla's driverless taxi that will also rely on the FSD software without a human driving the vehicle. The initial launch of Tesla's robotaxi service won't include the Cybercab because it isn't expected to go into production until at least 2026. Musk says each Cybercab will likely cost less than $30,000 to produce. The fully autonomous vehicle won't have a steering wheel or pedals and will have a large center touchscreen. The two-passenger vehicle won't have a backseat or a rear window but will have a rear cargo area. Musk says it won't have a traditional charging port and will rely on inductive (wireless) charging, which will charge by parking over a pad embedded in a designated charging area. Musk said earlier this year that the service would launch sometime in June. Bloomberg News then reported the launch was poised to happen on June 12, citing a person familiar with the matter. Two days before the anticipated launch, Musk reposted a video on X that showed Tesla testing a self-driving Model Y car in Austin, with what appeared to be no driver. Later that day, Musk replied to a user on X that the tentative rollout of the robotaxi service was June 22. 'We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift,' Musk said. He also indicated that the first driverless trip from the Tesla factory to a customer's house will take place on June 28, which is the billionaire's birthday. The letter that Texas Democratic lawmakers sent Wednesday to Tesla's director of field quality urged the company to delay the robotaxi service launch until a new Texas law takes effect, on Sept. 1. The law revises previous state guidelines for autonomous vehicles and requires the operators to receive prior authorization from the Department of Motor Vehicles. The letter states that in order to get that authorization, Tesla needs to show: that the vehicles can operate while abiding by state traffic laws, have a recording device, comply with federal standards, are properly registered and insured, and can 'achieve a minimal risk condition' if the autonomous system stops working. The Texas lawmakers asked the company to provide 'detailed information demonstrating that Tesla will be compliant with the new law upon the launch of driverless operations in Austin' if they decide to proceed with the launch over the weekend. Yahoo News has reached out to Tesla for comment. In addition to the Model Y taxis being remotely monitored at first, Musk told CNBC that the vehicles will also be 'geofenced' to certain areas of Austin that Tesla considers the safest to navigate. 'We want to deliberately take it slow,' Musk said. 'I mean, we could start with 1,000 or 10,000 [robotaxis] on day one, but I don't think that would be prudent. So we will start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40.' For the initial launch, the robotaxi service is expected to only be available to Tesla employees or by invite. 'The service will probably not be available to the general public for several months, analysts said,' according to the New York Times. Musk says he hopes to have by the end of 2026 'over a million Teslas' doing 'unsupervised full self-driving, where you do not need to pay attention.' Musk had originally promised in 2019 that there would be 1 million self-driving robotaxis on the road by 2020.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla Robotaxi Push Could Be a $1 Trillion Game-Changer, Wedbush Says
June 20 - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is set to launch its robotaxi operations in Austin this Sunday, with about 20 Model Y vehicles operating in a designated area, Wedbush mentioned in a Friday note. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with AMZN. The firm called the move a key milestone that could define Tesla's next phase, estimating the autonomous unit alone could eventually add $1 trillion to the electric carmaker's valuation. Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $500 price target, citing Tesla's global reach and progress in artificial intelligence and driverless technology. The firm expects Tesla to scale the service to roughly 25 U.S. cities within a year and sees potential policy support ahead. Analysts said a Trump presidency could accelerate regulatory clearance for full self-driving systems. Tesla plans to begin production of its dedicated robotaxi model, the Cybercab, sometime next year, the note added. Wedbush believes Tesla's roadmap on autonomy and robotics will unfold gradually, saying, Rome wasn't built in a day. In a bull case, the firm sees Tesla reaching a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2026. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Options Tool Can Show You How to Trade Tesla Stock Ahead of Robotaxi Day
Tesla's (TSLA) long-awaited Robotaxi launch is finally happening on June 22 in Austin, Texas. CEO Elon Musk is expected to unveil the Cybercab — Tesla's first fully autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel or brake pedals. It's a bold move that could ignite Tesla's next wave of growth… or leave an opening for fast-rising competitors to take the lead. While this headline moment dominates the news cycle, investors shouldn't ignore the rest of the autonomous vehicle (AV) playing field. Companies like Amazon's (AMZN) Zoox, Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Waymo, Uber (UBER), Nvidia (NVDA), WeRide (WRD), Innoviz (INVZ), and Aeva (AEVA) are also moving rapidly into the self-driving car arena — and some of their stocks are already heating up. Unusually Active Put Options Signal Long Straddle Opportunity After Zoetis Downgrade Amazon Ratio Spread Targets A Profit Zone Between 190 and 200 This Options Tool Can Show You How to Trade Tesla Stock Ahead of Robotaxi Day Markets move fast. Keep up by reading our FREE midday Barchart Brief newsletter for exclusive charts, analysis, and headlines. Tesla's Cybercab isn't just a new vehicle; it's a fully autonomous, driverless platform aimed at revolutionizing mobility. The June 22 event marks a critical milestone for Tesla's artificial intelligence (AI) roadmap, and investors are watching closely for product details and updates on federal approvals. Even better? Tesla just received a regulatory boost from the Trump administration, which plans to fast-track approvals for autonomous vehicles without traditional controls — a perfect fit for Tesla's Cybercab design. Amazon is building a 220,000 square foot robotaxi factory in California to produce up to 10,000 autonomous vehicles a year through its Zoox acquisition. Uber, in partnership with Volkswagen (VWAGY), is bringing driverless vans to U.S. streets — starting in Los Angeles with commercial launch by 2026. Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is already one of the most established names in autonomous driving. And Nvidia-backed WeRide just scored a major partnership with Tencent (TCEHY) and is expanding across Asia and Europe. Stocks like Innoviz (INVZ) and AEVA Technologies (AEVA) are getting attention for their advanced LiDAR systems and recent deal activity. AEVA, in particular, has surged over 400% in 2025, and both stocks currently hold a 'Buy' signal on Barchart's Opinion indicators. Barchart's Gamma Exposure Tool shows a key setup for traders: Large positive gamma spike at $330 Negative gamma clusters starting at $315 Gamma Flip turns negative at $308 This setup suggests we could see more volatility in TSLA stock as we approach the June 22 event — especially if price action challenges these levels. While TSLA is in focus right now, the bigger story isn't about just Tesla anymore. With massive capital flowing into robotaxis, quantum AI, and autonomous driving, the next wave of winners could come from anywhere in the supply chain — not just the top dogs. Want to see how Tesla stacks up against Waymo, Uber, Amazon, and Nvidia? Watch our Robotaxi launch reel now for everything you need to know — including presidential moves, gamma exposure signals, and key players in the AV arms race: Then, use our Barchart tools to line up your best Robotaxi trade: Track Top Trade Alerts for TSLA Learn All About Gamma Exposure See Tesla's Gamma Exposure Chart On the date of publication, Barchart Insights did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
