I wonder if Elon Musk got up this morning, checked the calendar and said “Holy crap! June 12…that’s TOMORROW?!?”
Tesla was supposed to launch its Robo-Taxi service in Austin on June 12. Yeah, tomorrow. But one of the first bits of news I saw this morning was that Tesla had postponed its Robo-Taxi launch in Austin, Texas until June 28…
I guess they aren’t quite ready. And honestly, that’s fine. Tesla has a lot riding(!) on this launch so it makes sense for Musk and Co. to do everything in their power to ensure that it goes smoothly. The Tesla Robo-Taxi launch will be heavily scrutinized, you can bet videos of the cars doing something goofy will go viral quickly and probably blow a big hole in the Tesla share price…
If Tesla needs a little more time to iron out some details, that’s the right thing to do.
Tesla is taking a unique approach to its Robo-Taxis. If you’ve seen the Waymo Robo-Taxi, it’s retrofitted with a large camera unit on the roof, cameras and radar on the corners and the windshield, plus LiDAR sensors on the front and rear. In total, Waymo cars have 13 cameras, 4 LiDAR and 6 radar units – plus they have audio sensors, all running on an onboard AI computer powered with Nvidia chips.
That’s why Waymos operate with such an incredible safety record. Last year insurance company Swiss RE studied using Waymo data compiled from 25 million miles driven, and found that Waymo’s were involved in just 9 property damage cases and 2 bodily injury claims. Swiss RE says that 25 million miles of human driving results in 79 property damage cases and 26 bodily injury claims. In other Swiss RE, found that Waymo’s reduce bodily injury by 90%, which is an incredble number.
Of course the sensors that Waymo uses pushes the cost of one of its Robo-Taxi to over $100k. Tesla, on the other hand, does not use radar or LiDAR. The Tesla system is based on imaging from 8 megapixel cameras. And Tesla will also have tele-operators monitoring its cars, able to take remote control over the cars if something happens.
Tesla’s approach does not have the degree of testing that Waymo's do – but if it works, it will be much cheaper. Plus, there’s another kicker…
Tesla says that since 2016, all of its new cars are capable of autonomous driving – all they need is a software upgrade. And this is why Tesla’s Austin launch is so important. If it goes well, it sets the stage for any Tesla on the road today to join the Robo-Taxi fleet at the owner’s discretion. Imagine driving home from work and turning your car loose for a couple hours to go out and make a couple taxi runs and make some loot for you…
Now obviously, the vision of tens of thousands Tesla’s roaming around giving people rides is a couple years off at least – but it starts soon in Austin.
It’s Actually Already Started
Media reports say that there are already Tesla Robo-Taxis in Austin, mapping roads and getting ready for the big day. Teleoperators have been hired and trained.
Tesla says it will start with just 10 Robo-Taxis. Once the system is proven to work, Musk says he will ramp up to a couple thousand cars in a matter of months.
The ultimate takeaway to both Tesla and Waymo Robo-Taxis is a massive shift for transportation. Yes, there’s the impressive safety record that Waymo has compiled. There’s also massive cost savings. Given that the average new car is pushing $50,000 and insurance premiums are skyrocketing, AAA says it now costs around $12,000 a year to own a car. That’s around $0.81 a mile…
Robo-Taxis could cut transportation costs down to $0.20-$0.40 a mile. That would cut a person’s transportation costs by $6,000 to $8,000 a year. And if the promise of thousands of Teslas available at any given time, you can see why consulting firm McKinsey and Co. says the Robo-Taxi market could be worth $400 billion by 2030.
Another takeaway from the delay of Tesla’s launch to June 28 is that the hype machine won’t crank up for another couple weeks…
And that means there’s still time for you to get your copy of our latest Special Report “Three Robotaxi Superstocks Under $5 to Buy Today.”
Hammer recommended one of these Robo-Taxi SuperStocks to his American Stock Investor members at $1.05, it's already up to $1.72. There's almost certainly more to come, but you should act now so you don't miss the next leg higher.
Here’s how to get your copy of “Three Robotaxi Superstocks Under $5 to Buy Today.”
Take Care,
Briton Ryle
Chief Investment Strategist
Outsider Club
X/Twitter:https://twitter.com/BritonRyle
