TMTPOST -- Tesla Inc. shares soared 8.2% on Monday, logging their best day since April 25, after the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) titan started offering robotaxi, its highly-anticipated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered self-driving service.
Credit：Tesla
「The @Tesla_AI robotaxi launch begins in Austin [Sunday] afternoon with customers paying a $4.20 flat fee!」 CEO Elon Musk posted on X the same day, confirming rollout of the serive in the capital city of the U.S. Texas state in which the company』s headquarters was located. Musk last month first revealed Tesla planned for robotaxis on Austin roads in June, aiming to expand the service into Los Angeles and San Francisco later.
Musk in May told CNBC Tesla』s robotaxi service will start with about 10 Model Y vehicles in Austin, and these vehicles will be equipped with a forthcoming version of FSD, or full self-driving, known as FSD Unsupervised. Tesla will soon expand the service to thousands of vehicle should the launch in Austin go well with no incidents, said Musk.
In another X post on Sunday, Musk touted the seccessful robotaxi launch. 「Super congratulations to the @Tesla_AI software & chip design teams on a successful @Robotaxi launch!! Culmination of a decade of hard work. Both the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla,」 he said.
With an updated FSD, the robotaxi service is available for a limited number of Tesla riders that have been invited as early access users. The Model Y vehicles running as robotaxi without safety drivers inside can ride in a geofenced area of Texas, but were backed by safety teleoperators able to control the vehilce incase of emergency and monitored by a Tesla employee sitting in the passenger seat who can intervene in case of an issue.
It was reported Tesla』s robotaxi ride are limited to around 30 square miles, smaller the the service area that Google』s self-driving sister Waymo covers in Austin since March. Following Musk』s tweets, lots of posters on X said they were able to hail and ride Model Y vehicles emblazoned with 「Robotaxi」 graphics in Austin. One of them claimed they did 11 rides with the service 「with zero issues」.
The Electrek found the vibe the EV and clean energy new media outlet most got was positive, with the word 「smooth」 are usually mentioned. Though it noted riders who posted ride videos or experiences of robotaxi are all Tesla fans and/or investors, which are less interested in criticizing the company while very familiar with the current abilities and limitations of its systems. The Verge reported most of the early testers said the experiences were 「smooth」 and 「natural」, but there was a robotaxi driving on the wrong side of the road.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a long Tesla bull, expressed upbeat on the company after he rode in a robotaxi on Sunday. In a note released that day, Ives said he expected to be "impressed" by the technology before the launch, but praised the technology as exceeding expectations. The noted touted the tech, saying "this is the future."
"We took two approximately 15-minute rides around Austin and the key takeaways are that it was a comfortable, safe, and personalized experience. The ride itself was completely smooth, and it was indistinguishable that the car was driverless," Ives stated in the note.
Following Tesla』s robotaxi launch, Ives reiterated his 「Outperforming」 rating on Tesla and the $500 price target, representing an over 55% upside on the stock』s Friday close. His note also outlined the potential for Grok, the AI model developed by Musk's startup xAI, and its integration into robotaxis in the future.