Elon Musk Unveils Autonomous Vehicle "CyberCab", Market Reactions Vary

• Tesla unveiled a new autonomous vehicle at the latest event "We, Robot"
• Musk promises to start production by 2026 and sell it for less than $30,000
• Skepticism regarding Musk's claims, as well as no updates regarding Tesla's "Model 2" prompted the company's stock to crash by over 6%

Multi-billionaire Elon Musk recently unveiled a new groundbreaking Tesla product. As the company's chief executive, Musk introduced the new vehicle—as well as other new products—in the event dubbed “We, Robot.”

Musk was driven to the stage on the new “Cybercab” an autonomous vehicle that Tesla promises will revolutionize urban mobility. During the event, the South African billionaire spoke about how this new self-driven car can save transportation costs by 80% when compared to current public transport in the U.S.

Furthermore, Tesla expects the cost of the CyberCab to be less than $30,000. The billionaire also noted that they plan on starting the production of the “robotaxi” before 2027 – and even promising to begin real-world tests by next year. It has a quite futuristic design, with no steering wheels, and no pedals. Different from most vehicles, the CyberCab will only seat two people.

During the same event, Elon also introduced the RoboVan, a concept similar to the previously aforementioned self-driving vehicle – a similar concept but capable of seating up to 20 people. The “We, Robot” event also featured updates to Tesla’s humanoid robot “Optimus”.

Tesla Shares Crashes During Event

Interestingly, $TSLA stock went down by over 6% since the event. Despite offering new products and features – customer and market reactions were not as positive as expected. 

Among the criticism, many point out that the 2-person limit on the new CyberCab is counter-productivity, and that it only stimulates even bigger traffic. Also, many are expectical of Musk’s promises regarding the production kickoff by 2026 – as well as the promise of an autonomous vehicle being sold by less than $30,000.

Investors were also not happy with rumors that Tesla scrapped (or delayed) production of the new electric car “Model 2”, to focus on the CyberCab. In fact, many expected to see updates of the Model 2 at this very event – only to be surprised with a brand new idea for a product.

Despite no confirmations that the Model 2 has been scrapped – the lack of updates about it could have led investors to believe that Tesla has no short-term plan – and that going forward with the idea of driverless vehicles and the risks associated with such an ambitious project could make $TSLA stock harder to hold.