Tesla Needs its Robo-Tech to Recharge Revenue

Tesla’s robotaxi app went live this week and quickly became Apple’s No. 1 travel app. But only a select group of investors and influencers in Austin, Texas, can actually call a car through the app. Everyone else has the option to join a waitlist and, well, wait. 

So far, Tesla has launched limited rideshare services in Austin and the Bay Area, and it’s looking to expand into Florida, Arizona and Nevada. But regulatory hurdles have slowed down the EV-maker’s plans — in the Bay Area, its cars still have a driver in the cab (womp, womp). Also, Tesla is using Model Y SUVs for rideshare rather than the promised Cybercab, which faces extra scrutiny for not having a steering wheel or pedals. 

But Tesla is trying to put the pedal to the metal on its robotaxi plans as investors look to the company’s robotic future to make Tesla less reliant on EVs. 

The Writing’s on the Wheel

Sales of EVs, which still make up the bulk of Tesla’s business, have been slipping. Americans bought 6% fewer EVs last quarter than they did in the same quarter the year before, Cox Automotive found. And Tesla’s sales fell faster than the broader industry’s, dipping 13% as it continued to lose market share. CEO Elon Musk warned investors in July that the car company has a “few rough quarters ahead” as pressures on the EV market bear down:

• In addition to Americans simply buying fewer EVs than anticipated, President Trump has pushed pro-gas policies — like nixing penalties for missing fuel-efficiency targets. At the end of this month, the $7,500 tax credit that Americans have leveraged for about 15 years will disappear. 
• Without the discount, analysts expect would-be new EV buyers to check out used EVs, which are selling for a relative bargain compared with gas-powered cars. One RBC analyst told Barron’s that late-model used EVs sell for about 55% of their original price, compared with 75% for gas vehicles. 

New Direction: Automakers that went full-throttle into EVs have been tapping the brakes and shifting their focus back to gas cars. Tesla doesn’t have that fallback option, and considering it hasn’t come out with a new EV model since the Cybertruck, it seems distracted from its main electric lineup. Instead, Tesla’s all-in on all-things-robo with Elon Musk writing on X Monday that he expects 80% of Tesla’s value to eventually come from its “Optimus” AI-powered robots. But first, robotaxis.