A Tesla investor narrowly avoided a car crash while testing the company’s updated self-driving software.
One of Tesla’s most loyal investors, William Stein at Truist Securities, narrowly avoided a car crash while testing the new Model Y’s self-driving system. Stain maintains a $215 price target on Tesla’s stock, up from the current $213.
“The Model Y accelerated through an intersection as the car in front of us had only partly completed a right turn,” Stein reported. “My quick intervention was absolutely required to avoid an otherwise certain accident.”
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, said on Monday that a new update of the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system had been released. Despite its name, FSD does not secure complete autonomy and requires full attention from the driver.
Nevertheless, the system allowed Stein to remove his hands from the wheel and look away from the road right before the accident. The analyst also reported two instances when the car crossed straight white lines indicating a no-crossing lane.
Stein tested the Model Y in New York City during dry and clear weather conditions.
Despite his experience, Stein praised Tesla’s FSD, though he admitted the company is “not even close to ‘solving’ autonomy.” FSD is hardly available outside the United States, though Musk said the company is trying to approve it in Europe and China.
Musk’s AI vision
In recent months, Elon Musk admitted that Tesla’s true mission is to become an AI company. Other than real self-driving software, the company also promised to deliver AI-powered humanoid robots by 2026.
Last year, Musk said nobody should invest in Tesla if they don’t believe in its self-driving software.
Though many analysts are skeptical that Tesla will truly solve the “autonomy problem”, others believe this is the core mission of the company.
Piper Sandler raised Tesla’s target price to $300 despite its margins shrinking in the two latest quarterly reports. Piper Sandler predicts Tesla will develop full self-driving software by 2035 and charge roughly $500/month to consumers.
According to Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter, Tesla will charge $31,000 for its vehicles at 0% profit. The self-driving subscription will drive the company’s profit growth.
Elon Musk said Tesla will announce a new robotaxi in October. Originally the launch was supposed to happen on August 8th, but Musk postponed it.
Tesla’s stock has been extremely volatile this year as investors were torn between disappointing quarterly earnings and boasting promises by Elon Musk. Currently, the stock is down 1.5% year-to-date, the worst performance in the “Magnificent 7” group.
