It’s been a bumpy ride for Tesla this year, but investors are finally feeling optimistic as the Elon Musk-led company begins rolling out its robotaxi service. Tesla shares rose 9 percent today (June 23), following what appeared to be a smooth launch of the first self-driving Teslas yesterday in Austin, Texas. The invite-only event allowed a handful of analysts and pro-Tesla social media influencers to test the carmaker’s latest technology throughout a geofenced area in Austin. Tesla, which has seen its shares fall by more than 18 percent in the past six months, has positioned autonomous vehicles at the center of the company’s future.
“Going into it, we expected to be impressed. Walking away from it, all there is to say is that this is the future,” said Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives, who attended the launch, in a note to clients afterwards.
“Super congratulations to the @Tesla_AI software and chip design teams on a successful @Robotaxi launch!!” said Musk in a post on X yesterday. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s vice president of A.I. software, shared an image of staffers watching the rollout at a robotaxi launch party.
The launch wasn’t completely unsupervised, though. Each ride included a safety monitor in the passenger seat. Tesla has also set a few ground rules: riders must be at least 18 years old, and the service currently operates daily from 6 a.m. to midnight. And, in a nod to Musk’s trademark humor, each ride costs a flat fee of $4.20. For now, the robotaxi rides are limited to Tesla’s Model Y vehicles, though production of the company’s newly unveiled Cybercab, introduced last October, is slated to begin next year.
Tesla’s self-driving rides felt “comfortable, safe and personalized,” said Ives, who noted that the vehicles successfully navigated dirt roads, traffic cones and chaotic conditions. Still, the launch wasn’t without issues—some robotaxis struggled with navigation or failed to pull over safely, as shown in videos shared by attendees.
For now, the rollout will likely remain limited. UBS analyst Joseph Spak told clients the service may initially involve just 10 to 20 vehicles. He noted this is common practice for autonomous ride-hailing.
Elon Musk has claimed that thousands of self-driving Teslas will be on the roads by 2026, but Wall Street remains skeptical about the company’s ability to scale that quickly. Barclays analyst Dan Levy warned in a client note that the road ahead will likely be long and cautioned against “overoptimism.”
Another note by Guggenheim Partners analyst Ronald Jewsikow described the recent launch as more of a “baby step.” To justify Tesla’s lofty valuation, he said, the company’s robotaxi rollout “needs to be closer to a sprint.”