"Tesla to Release Car Capable of Driving from Factory to Home Alone on June 28"
Main Competitors: China's Autonomous Driving Big Three and Google's Waymo
Wedbush Securities Projects $1 Trillion Market Cap if Successful
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced that the company plans to launch its robo (driverless) taxi service on June 22. However, he also left open the possibility that the date could be delayed due to safety concerns.
On June 11 (local time), Musk responded to a user on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) who asked about the launch of the robo-taxi service, saying, "Tentatively, June 22. We are being extremely cautious regarding safety issues, so this date could change." He added, "The first Tesla to autonomously drive from the end of the factory line to a customer's home will come out on June 28."
Previously, during an interview with U.S. business cable channel CNBC on May 20, Musk was asked whether Tesla could launch a fully autonomous robo-taxi service on the roads of Austin, Texas by the end of June. He replied, "Yes," and explained that while tests are currently being conducted with a driver present, "the vehicle is operating without any (driver) intervention." He also said that thousands of vehicles are currently being tested in Austin, and expressed confidence that "things will go well in Austin next month."
However, he emphasized that the initial operation must be as cautious as possible, stating, "We could start with 1,000 or even 10,000 vehicles on the first day, but that would not be prudent. So, we will start with 10 vehicles in the first week, then gradually increase to 20, 30, and 40 vehicles, and probably reach 1,000 within a few months." He added, "After that, we will expand to other cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, and San Antonio in Texas."
He also stressed the need for unified federal regulations for autonomous vehicles, and predicted, "By the end of next year, hundreds of thousands or even over a million Teslas will be operating autonomously in the United States." When asked whether this means that all Tesla owners would be able to experience 'Level 4'?a stage with no driver intervention at all?through a software update, Musk replied, "Yes," and said, "We will create a model similar to a combination of Uber and Airbnb."
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) noted, "Tesla hopes to generate a significant portion of its future business from robotics and artificial intelligence (AI)," and pointed out, "This autonomous driving launch is a very important challenge for Tesla."
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said, "This autonomous driving launch in Austin, Texas will be a key inflection point for Tesla's valuation," and analyzed, "The opportunities in AI and autonomous driving are worth at least $1 trillion for Tesla." He was even more optimistic, forecasting a valuation of $2 trillion by the end of 2026.
Tesla's main competitors include China's "autonomous driving big three": Baidu's Apollo Go, WeRide, and Pony AI. These companies have already commercialized robo-taxi services in their home country and expanded their business to the Middle East. In the United States, Google's Waymo is considered a rival. However, Wedbush predicted that Tesla is unrivaled in terms of global scale and influence, and that the company may provide autonomous driving technology to automakers in the U.S. and worldwide in the form of external licensing in the future.
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