Tesla shares rise after Elon Musk says 'robotaxi' to be unveiled in August

By Claudia Assis

Stock regains ground after Musk's tweet

Tesla Inc. shares climbed in premarket trading on Monday after Chief Executive Elon Musk said the EV maker would unveil its "robotaxi" on Aug. 8.

Musk's social-media post came late Friday on the heels of a Reuters report earlier that day that said Tesla (TSLA) is abandoning its plan to sell a cheaper EV, but will continue to develop robotaxis on the same next-generation vehicle platform.

That report cited three people with knowledge of the situation and company messages reviewed by Reuters. Almost immediately, however, Musk tweeted that the news agency was "lying," without citing specifics.

The report that Tesla was scratching plans to offer the "Model 2," as the cheaper EV has been dubbed, sent Tesla shares skidding 3.6% on Friday.

After Musk's tweet about the robotaxi event, however, the stock rose about 5% in the Friday's extended session, and was up 3.6% in premarket trading on Monday. The EV maker's shares have lost 33% year to date.

Shares of rideshare companies Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) were both trading down 1.7% in premarket trading.

Musk has said numerous times that robotaxis are a potential source of untold riches for Tesla.

Some of the underlying technology already available, however, has been under heightened scrutiny and criticism in recent months from highway-safety regulators and others.

That includes Autopilot, Tesla's suite of advanced driver-assistance systems for highway driving, and Full Self Driving, Tesla's ADAS for city driving.

Both have been criticized for implying more capabilities than what's available, lulling drivers into a false sense of security, and for not doing enough to require drivers to remain alert. Tesla has rebuffed those charges, saying that it makes clear drivers need to remain in control and ready to take over at all times, and that the system alerts drivers accordingly.

-Claudia Assis

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04-08-24 0520ET

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