(News Bulletin 247) – The American specialist in electric vehicles unveiled its “Cybercab”, a robotaxi model, on Thursday. But enthusiasm is not there, Tesla is in sharp decline on Wall Street.

Thursday was a historic day for Tesla. The American electric vehicle specialist has finally unveiled its vision of the car of the future during its “We Robot” event organized in Los Angeles.

On this occasion, Elon Musk presented his robotaxi, the “Cybercab” which is a two-seater vehicle, without steering wheel or pedal. He hopes to offer this 100% autonomous model “before 2027”, and for less than $30,000. Subject of course to authorization from regulators, initially in California and Texas.

Elon Musk also unveiled the “Robovan”, a large futuristic module whose wheels cannot be discerned and capable of transporting 20 people or products to be transported. For this model, the boss of Tesla sees it as the most demanded product of all time. But he did not give more details on a precise marketing timetable.

In July, Dan Ives from Wedbush considered that this day would mark “the beginning of the next stage in the history of Tesla’s autonomous car, before the eyes of all investors”.

This day was indeed eagerly awaited by investors to see the group’s progress in artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. Especially since this “robotaxi day” was initially scheduled to take place on August 8, but Tesla felt it needed more time to refine the design.

Mixed reviews

So what does the market say? This presentation left several analysts wanting more. For Colin Langan of Wells Fargo, “this is mostly a show-off, with little substance.” “Tesla did not specify the regulator’s timetable….The event succeeded in generating enthusiasm but offered little substance,” continues the analyst cited by Barron’s.

Same disappointment on the Bernstein side. “We found Tesla’s Robotaxi event disappointing and surprisingly lacking in detail,” said analyst Toni Sacconaghi. “He offered little beyond what [Elon Musk] has articulated several times over the past few years. In addition, details on new products, offers and calendars were absent,” continues the specialist.

Optimistic voices were also raised to defend Tesla’s project, such as that of analyst Dan Ives from Wedbush. “We were able to see a full demonstration of the new Cybercab, Tesla’s fully autonomous vehicle, and receive updates regarding [le logiciel de conduite autonome]the new Robovan, Optimus and induction charging (wireless)”, he says in a note taken up by Barron’s.

“Elon Musk has done a fantastic job painting an ideal future for transportation that promises to both free up our time and increase safety,” says Jessica Caldwell at Edmunds. “But many questions remain about how this will be achieved from a practical point of view,” she tempers in her note.

Tesla fell 8.7% this Friday, showing its biggest drop since August 5 according to Bloomberg. Competition is therefore not imminent, which benefits Uber, which for its part is growing by 6% while Lyft is gaining 8.6%. “Overall, the event clarified Tesla’s vision and timeline for its robo-taxi, and we are gradually emerging positive on Uber shares,” Citigroup analysts were quoted as saying by MarketWatch.