Elon Musk has teased a June 22nd debut for Tesla’s long-promised robotaxi service, starting with 10-20 modified Model Ys crawling around Austin, Texas, under remote supervision.
The launch comes at a fraught time. Tesla’s car sales are sliding, Musk has alienated a swathe of customers, and his political entanglements – most recently a bust-up with Donald Trump – have unnerved even the bulls.
Yet somehow, investors are still on board. Tesla shares slumped when Musk and Trump went to war, but clawed back their losses within days.
While the stock is down 14 per cent in 2025, it’s still 35 per cent above where it was trading before November’s US elections.
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That’s hard to fathom, given the steady drip of bad news since: shrinking sales, eroding margins, customer boycotts, and now a spat with Trump that could cost Tesla its political cover.
It’s driving sceptics quietly mad. “I have seen companies where the stocks have become detached from reality”, said GLJ Research’s Gordon Johnson recently, “but I’ve never seen a company where the stocks stay detached from reality”.
JPMorgan’s Ryan Brinkman insists “fundamentals will eventually matter”.
So does Barclays’ Dan Levy, who says the stock “hasn’t fully confronted weak fundamentals”, which “don’t seem to matter ... until they eventually matter”.
With the Trump connection now toxic, the robotaxi is Tesla’s new story.
Its debut should be a credibility test after years of missed autonomy deadlines, but Tesla investors are a forgiving bunch. Reality may have the last word, just not yet.
