Tesla on Thursday showcased its long-awaited robotaxi with two gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals, but the glitzy event was light on detail, disappointing investors who had hoped for more concrete plans.
CEO Elon Musk, who has a record of missing projections – and himself said he tended to be optimistic with time frames – did not say how quickly Tesla could ramp up robotaxi production, clear inevitable regulatory hurdles or implement a business plan to leapfrog robotaxi rivals.
Below are comments from investors, stock market analysts and industry experts reacting to the robotaxi unveil:
MATTHEW WANSLEY, PROFESSOR AT NEW YORK’S CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW
“What Tesla showed tonight was a lot of sci-fi smoke and mirrors. What they haven’t shown yet is software that has the capabilities of an automated driving system … Musk has yet to prove that a vision-only approach for automation is viable. And he didn’t address that issue tonight.”
“The big open question about Tesla is just the software is so far behind where the rest of the industry is today.”
BRYANT WALKER SMITH, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
“Tesla yet again claimed it is a year or two away from actual automated driving – just as the company has been claiming for a decade. Indeed, Tesla’s whole event had a 2014 vibe, except that in 2014 there were no automated vehicles actually deployed on public roads. Now there are real AVs carrying real people on real roads, but none of them are Teslas. Tonight did not change this reality; it only made the irony more glaring.”
KC BOYCE, VICE PRESIDENT AT DATA ANALYTICS AND ADVISORY FIRM ESCALENT
“I had pretty low expectations for the event, given Tesla’s history of overpromising and under-delivering. In that sense, it met my expectations: it was a typical Tesla