Will Self-Driving Cars Help Push Tesla Stock Over the Top?
Will Driverless Tech Updates Push TSLA Stock Up?
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) isn’t exactly known for resting on its laurels. As a new week dawns, so too is a new entry written of the saga of Tesla stock.
This one has to do with a new and improved autopilot feature—the creatively named “Enhanced Autopilot”—to be released in the next three weeks, followed by incremental updates in the following months.
This is, of course, part of CEO Elon Musk’s multi-pronged plan to take over the world. Between houses with solar panels for roofs, SpaceX launching thousands of satellites into orbit, and ever improving self-driving vehicles, Musk is not pleased with the current world and seems to always be looking for ways to change it. (Source: “Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot Update Will Roll Out Before 2017,” Futurism, November 28, 2016.)
Oh, and don’t forget, Musk is trying to kill gasoline.
But I digress. Today, Musk made an announcement over Twitter regarding the enhancements to the driverless feature in Tesla vehicles. While the announcement had little effect on TSLA stock today, expect analysts and investors to be watching out for the update when it hits in late December.
Tesla Motors Inc described the update as follows:
Enhanced Autopilot adds these new capabilities to the Tesla Autopilot driving experience. Your Tesla will match speed to traffic conditions, keep within a lane, automatically change lanes without requiring driver input, transition from one freeway to another, exit the freeway when your destination is near, self-park when near a parking spot and be summoned to and from your garage.
And then you have the much-anticipated “Model 3,” the first Tesla vehicle marketed to average consumers. While the car’s sales are predicted to either be a huge boon or bust for Tesla stock, whichever way the dice falls, the vehicle is expected to have the most sophisticated form of self-driving capabilities yet.
Analyst Take
While there’s still much debate as to just how (or if) people will adapt to driverless cars, Tesla Motors Inc’s launch of this technology in the next few weeks is sure to bring early Christmas cheer to Tesla evangelicals.
Meanwhile, the world holds its breath awaiting the mid-2018 release of the Model 3.
