Tesla shares jump as Musk teases June robotaxi launch
Tesla shares climbed two per cent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after reports emerged that the EV giant is preparing to launch its long-anticipated robotaxi service as early as 12th June.
The bounce helped reverse earlier losses driven by disappointing new vehicle registration figures across Europe.
The sudden shift in investor sentiment followed chief executive Elon Musk’s announcement on his own platform, X, that Tesla has been quietly testing self driving Model Y vehicles on public streets in Austin with no one in the driver’s seat – a milestone reached “a month ahead of schedule”, he said.
“For the past several days, Tesla has been testing self-driving Model Y cars (no one in the driver’s seat) on Austin public streets with no incidents”, the post read. “Next month, first self-delivery from factory to customer”.
Tesla is reportedly preparing an initial fleet of 10 to 20 autonomous Model Y vehicles, with plans to scale quickly.
Derren Nahan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The stock’s after hours rally was driven by renewed optimism that Tesla is finally close to delivering on its full self-drivinf promise – a key pillar of the company’s valuation.”
“The robotaxi milestone has investors hoping this could reignite sales momentum and reestablish Tesla as a leader in the EV space”.
Tesla’s robotaxi development
Austin has become a proving ground for robotaxi development, with Tesla now joining Alphabet’s Waymo in live testing on public roads.
Regulatory hurdles remain, however, as Tesla isn’t currently licensed as a rideshare provider in Texas.
But, the state’s light touch approach to autonomous driving has so far enabled rapid testing periods.
Despite a 12 per cent drop so far this year, Tesla’s shares have more than doubled in the past 12 months.
If the robotaxi rollout sticks to schedule, investors may finally reap the rewards Musk has long promised.