Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company’s long-awaited robotaxi, the Cybercab, at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California.
The futuristic vehicle, which has two wing-shaped doors and no pedals or steering wheel, placed Musk in front of an audience eager to hear more details about a project he believes is key to Tesla’s next chapter.
At an event titled “We, Robot,” the billionaire reiterated his view that fully self-driving cars would be safer than human-driven vehicles and could even make owners money by renting out the vehicles. .
But investors have not shared his enthusiasm so far. Shares of Tesla fell after U.S. markets opened Friday morning.
Shares were down more than 8% in value, trading at around $219 at 11:45 ET (16:45 BST).
Meanwhile, shares of ride-hailing competitors Uber and Lyft, which have autonomous driving ambitions, each rose up to 10%.
I have a question about . Considering his track record of failing to meet deadlines, Musk predicted that production of the CyberCap would begin “no later than 2027.”
“I tend to be optimistic about time,” he said at the event.
He said Cybercab, which will compete with rivals including Alphabet-owned Waymo, will be priced below $30,000 (£23,000).
But analysts have questioned how realistic that plan is.
“It would be extremely difficult for Tesla to offer a new vehicle at that price within that time frame,” said Paul Miller of research Forrester.
He added: “It doesn’t seem feasible to launch a product at anything close to that price this decade without external subsidies or Tesla taking a loss on every vehicle.”
