There are only a few days left before the Tesla Cybertruck’s first deliveries, and in an apparent effort to generate more attention for the vehicle, the EV maker has brought its all-electric pickup truck to several of its physical stores. The public’s reaction has been very notable.
Tesla bulls such as The Future Fund Managing Partner Gary Black have noted that the Cybertruck will have a “halo effect” of sorts for the electric vehicle maker. This suggests that even those who will not be purchasing the Cybertruck may end up purchasing one of the company’s other electric cars because their attention was captured by the all-electric pickup truck.
Over the past few days, this does seem to be the case. In social media posts, electric vehicle advocates and Tesla community members shared photos and images of Cybertruck displays that were attracting quite a lot of interest from visitors. Such a reaction bodes well for the Cybertruck, as it hints that the vehicle really is an attention-grabbing product.
The following are some of the posts shared by electric vehicle enthusiasts about Tesla’s Cybertruck displays.
$TSLA halo effect. https://t.co/n12vWwXxQA— Gary Black (@garyblack00) November 25, 2023
People go check out Cybertruck. It does attract eyeballs for some reason. pic.twitter.com/GQYvTuvjwo— Ray (@ray4tesla) November 25, 2023
The Cybertruck is FŮĊĶING INSANE!
I just left the Bellevue Square @Tesla showroom. It was packed with curious mall goers and fans.
The Cybertruck looked like it was ready for mass production. This is my third time seeing one in person and I could not see any flaws in this… pic.twitter.com/bk31FmiYHJ— Matthew Donegan-Ryan (@MatthewDR) November 27, 2023
I just saw the Tesla Cybertruck in person for the first time and it did not disappoint! Any photos and videos you see online doesn't do it justice.
Much more impressive in person.
One of the Tesla employees at the showroom said that anyone with a reservation number starting… pic.twitter.com/nPUFV7ocur— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 27, 2023
Anyone that underestimates the ripple effect the Cybertruck will have on accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy, are all about to be shell shocked. This is the best product that Tesla has ever created & people absolutely fuckin love it. pic.twitter.com/VoiNTVgnxi— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) November 25, 2023
The Cybertruck hype is for real and anyone standing on the other side of change will probably get run over pic.twitter.com/xoqMXAqmmv— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) November 26, 2023
The attention surrounding the Cybertruck seemingly echoes the interest that surrounded the Tesla Model 3 prior to its unveiling. At the time, Tesla was only delivering the Model S sedan and the Model X SUV, so the company was not considered a mass-market car manufacturer yet. The Model 3 was the electric car maker’s first mass-market car, and EV enthusiasts were so hyped about the product that some stood in line for hours just to reserve the vehicle. Later Model 3 displays also attracted a lot of attention.
Needless to say, the EV market has changed a lot since the Model 3 was unveiled. But despite the electric car segment being far more mature now, one could not help but feel like the Cybertruck is indeed yet another Model 3 or Model Y moment for Tesla. Sure, it’s just another EV that just happens to be designed differently compared to others in its segment. But considering the consumer interest it is already drumming up today, it does seem like Tesla is about to capture lightning in a bottle once more with the Cybertruck.
The Tesla Cybertruck is expected to have its first delivery event at Giga Texas this November 30, 2023.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Investor's Corner
Tesla stock closes at all-time high on heels of Robotaxi progress
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, jumping over 3 percent during the day and finishing at $489.88.
The price beats the previous record close, which was $479.86.
Shares have had a crazy year, dipping more than 40 percent from the start of the year. The stock then started to recover once again around late April, when its price started to climb back up from the low $200 level.
This week, Tesla started to climb toward its highest levels ever, as it was revealed on Sunday that the company was testing driverless Robotaxis in Austin. The spike in value pushed the company’s valuation to $1.63 trillion.
Tesla Robotaxi goes driverless as Musk confirms Safety Monitor removal testing
It is the seventh-most valuable company on the market currently, trailing Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta.
Shares closed up $14.57 today, up over 3 percent.
The stock has gone through a lot this year, as previously mentioned. Shares tumbled in Q1 due to CEO Elon Musk’s involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which pulled his attention away from his companies and left a major overhang on their valuations.
However, things started to rebound halfway through the year, and as the government started to phase out the $7,500 tax credit, demand spiked as consumers tried to take advantage of it.
Q3 deliveries were the highest in company history, and Tesla responded to the loss of the tax credit with the launch of the Model 3 and Model Y Standard.
Additionally, analysts have announced high expectations this week for the company on Wall Street as Robotaxi continues to be the focus. With autonomy within Tesla’s sights, things are moving in the direction of Robotaxi being a major catalyst for growth on the Street in the coming year.
Elon Musk
Tesla needs to come through on this one Robotaxi metric, analyst says
“We think the key focus from here will be how fast Tesla can scale driverless operations (including if Tesla’s approach to software/hardware allows it to scale significantly faster than competitors, as the company has argued), and on profitability.”
Tesla needs to come through on this one Robotaxi metric, Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs says.
Tesla is in the process of rolling out its Robotaxi platform to areas outside of Austin and the California Bay Area. It has plans to launch in five additional cities, including Houston, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
However, the company’s expansion is not what the focus needs to be, according to Delaney. It’s the speed of deployment.
The analyst said:
“We think the key focus from here will be how fast Tesla can scale driverless operations (including if Tesla’s approach to software/hardware allows it to scale significantly faster than competitors, as the company has argued), and on profitability.”
Profitability will come as the Robotaxi fleet expands. Making that money will be dependent on when Tesla can initiate rides in more areas, giving more customers access to the program.
There are some additional things that the company needs to make happen ahead of the major Robotaxi expansion, one of those things is launching driverless rides in Austin, the first city in which it launched the program.
This week, Tesla started testing driverless Robotaxi rides in Austin, as two different Model Y units were spotted with no occupants, a huge step in the company’s plans for the ride-sharing platform.
Tesla Robotaxi goes driverless as Musk confirms Safety Monitor removal testing
CEO Elon Musk has been hoping to remove Safety Monitors from Robotaxis in Austin for several months, first mentioning the plan to have them out by the end of 2025 in September. He confirmed on Sunday that Tesla had officially removed vehicle occupants and started testing truly unsupervised rides.
Although Safety Monitors in Austin have been sitting in the passenger’s seat, they have still had the ability to override things in case of an emergency. After all, the ultimate goal was safety and avoiding any accidents or injuries.
Goldman Sachs reiterated its ‘Neutral’ rating and its $400 price target. Delaney said, “Tesla is making progress with its autonomous technology,” and recent developments make it evident that this is true.
Investor's Corner
Tesla gets bold Robotaxi prediction from Wall Street firm
Last week, Andrew Percoco took over Tesla analysis for Morgan Stanley from Adam Jonas, who covered the stock for years. Percoco seems to be less optimistic and bullish on Tesla shares, while still being fair and balanced in his analysis.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) received a bold Robotaxi prediction from Morgan Stanley, which anticipates a dramatic increase in the size of the company’s autonomous ride-hailing suite in the coming years.
Last week, Andrew Percoco took over Tesla analysis for Morgan Stanley from Adam Jonas, who covered the stock for years. Percoco seems to be less optimistic and bullish on Tesla shares, while still being fair and balanced in his analysis.
Percoco dug into the Robotaxi fleet and its expansion in the coming years in his latest note, released on Tuesday. The firm expects Tesla to increase the Robotaxi fleet size to 1,000 vehicles in 2026. However, that’s small-scale compared to what they expect from Tesla in a decade.
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
By 2035, Morgan Stanley believes there will be one million Robotaxis on the road across multiple cities, a major jump and a considerable fleet size. We assume this means the fleet of vehicles Tesla will operate internally, and not including passenger-owned vehicles that could be added through software updates.
He also listed three specific catalysts that investors should pay attention to, as these will represent the company being on track to achieve its Robotaxi dreams:
- Opening Robotaxi to the public without a Safety Monitor. Timing is unclear, but it appears that Tesla is getting closer by the day.
- Improvement in safety metrics without the Safety Monitor. Tesla’s ability to improve its safety metrics as it scales miles driven without the Safety Monitor is imperative as it looks to scale in new states and cities in 2026.
- Cybercab start of production, targeted for April 2026. Tesla’s Cybercab is a purpose-built vehicle (no steering wheel or pedals, only two seats) that is expected to be produced through its state-of-the-art unboxed manufacturing process, offering further cost reductions and thus accelerating adoption over time.
Robotaxi stands to be one of Tesla’s most significant revenue contributors, especially as the company plans to continue expanding its ride-hailing service across the world in the coming years.
Its current deployment strategy is controlled and conservative to avoid any drastic and potentially program-ruining incidents.
So far, the program, which is active in Austin and the California Bay Area, has been widely successful.