Musk, who often showered investors with large -scale -gauge visions after weaker quarters, describes the role of self -driving cars for the future of Tesla. Just a few weeks ago, the group had started its first robotaxi service in the city center of Austin-with a “handful” car, tesla handpicked customers and pickups in the passenger seat.
Nevertheless, Musk now came a great promise: he thinks that Tesla can probably offer autonomous trips for half of the US population at the end of the year, he said. Then, however, the restriction came: “Provided the approval of the authorities.” This could not be built on the schedule, judged the long -time industry analyst Gene Munster. In the USA the permits for autonomous driving must be requested in individual states.
Rich cameras as the eyes of the AI?
Teslas Robotaxis has so far covered over 7000 miles (approx. 11,265 km) in Austin. The Google-Sister Waymo, whose driverless cars make more than 250,000 trips a week with paying passengers, the mark of 100 million miles recently cracked. Uber also invests vigorously in robotaxis
. Musk still claims that Tesla will quickly get number one when driving autonomous.
He relies on a cost advantage: While Waymo and other developers of self-driving cars for safety rely on expensive laser radars, he only wants to get by with cameras. According to Musk, current Tesla vehicles already have the necessary technology on board to be autonomous. In Austin, for example, vehicles of the compact SUV Model Y.
Musk’s plan meets skepticism
In the coming year, Tesla owners could also send their cars to the streets in some US cities as robotaxis to earn money. And once the latest versions of Tesla’s “Autopilot” software are also approved in Europe, the recently weakening sales are also taking up there again, said Musk.
However, experts and rivals have concerns about Tesla’s approach. The laser radars-also known as LIDAR-tap the surroundings of the vehicles and can therefore recognize objects and people even in difficult lighting conditions. On the other hand, there are doubts that cameras can correctly identify obstacles in all situations. The US transport authority NHTSA has been investigating accidents with Tesla’s previous “autopilot” versions for years that still act as an assistance system with human supervision.
US subsidies run out
Teslas revenues from the car business In the past quarter, 16 percent fell to $ 16.66 billion. At the same time, it could be short-term tailwind in the coming months by the policy of US President Donald Trump (79): At the end of September, the electric car subsidies of $ 7,500 expire in the USA. This could cause some interested parties to strike quickly.
How much Tesla can benefit from it is unclear: CFO Vaibhav Taneja admitted that the group may not be able to produce enough cars to meet demand by the end of September. After that, Tesla wants to launch a cheaper model. Musk now confirmed that it would look just like the Model Y. For the lower price, however, discounts on the equipment can be expected. Analyst Munster immediately warned that the sales of the more lucrative model Y could suffer.
German car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer also pointed out that Tesla has overall overcapacity: While the group can build 2.35 million cars annually, only 1.6 million should be sold this year.