Tesla’s Elon Musk will soon reveal robotaxi plans. Why some analysts are keeping their expectations low

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set to unveil the company's robotaxi plans on Thursday, which has reignited interest in the electric vehicle maker's stock despite cooling expectations for EV growth. Musk has described the robotaxi as a new model of vehicle that can drive itself and work on a Tesla ride-hailing platform, allowing owners to make money by putting their cars on the network. The company's Full Self-Driving software relies on cameras and artificial intelligence to drive current cars, without the additional hardware used by other robotaxi players. Musk estimates that the robotaxi business could drive Tesla's valuation to $5 trillion from $750 billion, but investors want to see a prototype and understand regulatory hurdles. They are also skeptical about the company's ability to mass-produce the robotaxi at a profit, given the still-nascent and tightly regulated industry. Few observers expect a fully functioning product to be announced, and analysts believe the event will be long on vision and short on immediate deliverables. Tesla shares have risen nearly 50% since April, but expectations of volatility are high due to uncertainties around the robotaxi event. Bringing self-driving vehicles to market has proven time-consuming and costly for other companies, and investors are cautious about Tesla's ability to leapfrog to high levels of automation.