It’s a classic Elon Musk move. Tesla released some pretty grim first-quarter numbers on Tuesday, showing that net income dropped more than 50% from last year. During the earnings call, however, Musk floated his “new” vision for the electric car company. Tesla is now focused on building an AI-powered fleet of ride-hailing robotaxis, composed of new “Cybercabs” and existing autonomous cars that Tesla owners can send out at will.
“Think of it as a combination of Airbnb and Uber,” said Musk on Tesla’s earnings call Tuesday. “There will be some number of cars that Tesla owns itself and operates in the fleet, and then there’ll be a bunch of cars where they’re owned by the end user.”
When things are going south, Musk bets his companies on building what no one has before. Elon wants to build a robotaxi fleet so that Teslas spend as little time as possible sitting in a garage. Tesla owners will be able to opt their cars into a ride-hailing robotaxi program, that they presumably can make money from. Like Airbnb, owners can choose to only rent their car to users with good ratings, or just friends and family. Tesla will operate this fleet, according to Musk, which also includes a new dedicated robotaxi that will be showcased in August of this year.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Musk has been talking about this fleet of robotaxis for years. Back in 2019, he said there would be more than a million of these autonomous cars picking up strangers in 2020. Yeah, that didn’t happen.
The robotaxis are still part of Musk’s vision for Tesla as an AI and robotics company. The CEO, often optimistic with his timelines, expects Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus will be available for sale externally by 2025. Musk reiterated that, when launched, Optimus “will be more valuable than everything else combined.”
Tesla
blames
its
lackluster
performance
in
Q1
of
2024
on
a
variety
of
factors.
In
its
quarterly
update,
management
called
out
the
Red
Sea
conflict,
the
arson
attack
at
Gigafactory
Berlin,
and
the
gradual
ramp
of
the
updated
Model
3
in
Fremont.
Broadly
speaking,
Tesla
also
noted
the
Global
EV
sales
slump,
as
many
American
competitors
pulled
from
the
EV
race
in
the
last
year.
Musk is betting the company on self-driving after a year of struggles for Tesla’s autonomous driving division. The California DMV sued Tesla this year for claiming its vehicles could fully drive themselves in marketing materials, though that’s not the case yet. Tesla recently issued over-the-air updates to vehicles to include a disclaimer that drivers still have to pay attention while using “autopilot” mode.
Musk
also
announced
new,
affordable
Tesla
models
coming
in
early
2025.
These
cars
will
be
built
on
existing
manufacturing
lines,
which
Tesla
says
will
reduce
the
cost
of
building
them.
However,
this
raises
a
question
of
how
different
these
cars
will
be
from
existing
Teslas.
Musk
dodged
an
analyst’s
question
when
asked
to
elaborate
on
these
new
vehicles.
“Elon
Musk
finally
stepped
up
as
the
adult
in
the
room
and
laid
the
foundation
for
Tesla’s
growth
strategy
with
most
importantly
a
lower
cost
vehicle
now
slated
for
2025
production
and
delivery,”
said
Wedbush
Securities
analyst
Dan
Ives
in
an
analyst
note
Wednesday
seen
by
Gizmodo.
Tesla’s
stock
soared
Wednesday
morning,
up
14%
as
of
10:20
a.m.
in
New
York,
despite
the
lackluster
performance
in
Q1.
Investors
were
excited
by
the
prospect
of
new,
cheaper
models
supposedly
going
into
production
now,
alongside
Musk’s
vision
for
an
AI-enabled
future.
Not
to
mention,
Tesla
announced
plans
to
lay
off
roughly
6,000
employees
in
Texas
and
California
on
Tuesday.
That
doesn’t
hurt
the
stock
price,
though
it
may
impact
Tesla’s
ability
to
execute
these
bold
visions.
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