Tesla's stock falls as Cybercab launch lands with a thud

By William Gavin

The company's Cybercab rollout won't be as broad as some investors had hoped

Tesla has made roughly 1,000 units of the Cybercab, a purpose-built robotaxi vehicle, according to a U.S. regulator.

Tesla shares dropped on Friday as the company's much-hyped robotaxi event fell flat.

The electric-vehicle maker (TSLA) on Thursday held a launch event for the Cybercab - a two-seat, purpose-built autonomous vehicle that doesn't have a steering wheel or pedals. The vehicle is expected to be cheaper to operate than other Tesla vehicles while showcasing the company's technological progress.

But Tesla did not end up broadcasting Thursday's event, leaving investors to glean information through scattered sources. Rather than streaming the event, the company invited a few hundred employees and other guests to take the first public Cybercab rides, according to posts from attendees on social media.

"The future is here now. And in the future there will be millions of Cybercabs everywhere," Eric Earley, Tesla's Cybercab lead, said in a 15-minute presentation at the Austin, Texas, event that was posted to YouTube last night.

Tesla said Cybercab rides were opened up to the general public at 2 p.m. Central time on Friday. But that was only in a limited section of Austin for part of the day, according to Tesla's website, and it won't be until "next month or so" that the Cybercab will be available at all times of the day, according to Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's head of artificial intelligence.

Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco had said in a client note ahead of the Thursday event that retail demonstrations with a limited deployment would do "little to reinvigorate excitement about Tesla's robotaxi business, and we would expect the stock to fade following the event."

Tesla shares dropped 5.9% on Friday, wiping out the gains made in Thursday's session leading up to the Cybercab event.

While some analysts had low expectations for Thursday, others were hoping for a much bigger rollout. George Gianarikas, a bullish analyst at Canaccord, told MarketWatch earlier this week that announcing an expansion into multiple markets with more than just a few Cybercabs in each would excite investors.

Tesla operates robotaxi services in Austin, Houston and Dallas, as well as in three Florida cities. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Tesla offers ride-sharing services supervised by human safety drivers. Its next targets for expansion are Las Vegas and Phoenix.

While it's unclear exactly how many Cybercabs will be deployed over the next few weeks, Tesla has registered 45 units with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Percoco said launching 25 to 50 Cybercabs across the company's Texas markets over the next few weeks could give shares a boost.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday also launched an audit to examine the process and data Tesla used to self-certify the Cybercab. The agency's filing estimates that Tesla has produced about 1,000 robotaxis. The NHTSA said Tesla notified it of plans to "gradually" deploy the Cybercab in additional locations.

At the launch event, Elluswamy revealed that Tesla's unsupervised robotaxis have driven 1 million miles. That's up from the figure of "more than 380,000 miles" that was presented to investors in July. Tesla has 128 unsupervised cars operating in Austin, up from 54 at the end of June, according to RobotaxiTracker.

Tesla on Thursday also began allowing customers to apply to operate their own fleets of Cybercabs, although details about timing and other factors weren't provided. The company has said the Cybercab will eventually sell for less than $30,000, but an official price has also not yet been revealed.

-William Gavin

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09-04-26 1618ET