Tesla’s biggest bull with $2,000 price target sees robotaxi service launching ‘soon’
Ark Invest, arguably Tesla’s biggest bull with a $2,000 price target on the TSLA stock, put together a weighted average prediction for when Tesla would launch its robotaxi service.
Recently, Tesla has made it clear that it is virtually betting the house on self-driving.
CEO Elon Musk even went as far as to say that Tesla solving self-driving is the difference between Tesla being worth trillions or “basically nothing.”
As we have previously reported, Musk believes that not many are seeing the value in Tesla eventually pushing self-driving capability to its fleet of millions of vehicles through over-the-air software updates. However, we think he might be confusing people not understanding the value with people having serious doubts about Tesla being able to do it in the first place.
One group that does believe it is Ark Invest, an investment firm that has long held one of the highest price targets on Tesla’s stock.
The firm, which owns over $1 billion worth of Tesla shares, has a $2,000 price target on the stock, which represents a massive upside over the current $160 price.
But a majority of that upside is based on Tesla delivering its long-held promise of releasing its robotaxi service to its existing fleet.
In a recent update to its Tesla model, Ark says that it is confident Tesla will soon launch its robotaxi service and even puts a prediction that it should happen in late 2024:
ARK has grown increasingly confident that Tesla will launch a robotaxi service soon. Our updated Monte Carlo model includes a range of launch dates, with late 2024 as the weighted average of all cases, as shown below.
That’s based on a simulation of the commercialization of Tesla’s robotaxi service:
Musk himself said just last week that he expects Tesla to achieve “full autonomy” this year, but as we reported, it’s not clear what he means by “full autonomy.”
Ark’s definition is clearer. They are talking about Tesla releasing a software update making its whole fleet of millions of cars produced since 2016 fully self-driving and offering robotaxi services through a new Uber-like app.
Electrek’s Take
That would indeed be a game changer that would create a lot of value for Tesla, and the end of 2024 still leaves more than a year to achieve it.
But as an FSD beta tester, I have difficulties imagining Tesla going from the current FSD beta to a robotaxi service only through software updates.
It’s not impossible, but I find it hard to believe. Although, the “start of commercialization” would only mean that – the start. I can see Tesla achieving some level of self-driving capacity that could enable robotaxi services in some geofenced areas by then, but that isn’t likely to be pushed to millions of vehicles like Musk has promised for years.
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Environment
Tesla (TSLA) brand damage is destroying used car value: ‘People don’t want them anymore’
Tesla’s brand damage is eroding the value of used Tesla vehicles at a rapid rate, as owners rush to sell theirs.
It is breaking the used Tesla market as prices are plunging just as the broader used car market is recovering.
After a few tough years for the used car market following the pandemic, it is finally starting to recover over the last month.
Economic uncertainty and a fear of higher inflation due to Trump’s tariffs are prompting some buyers to shift from the new car market to the used car market.
From March 2024 to March 2025, average used car prices decreased by 2.68% in the US, but the trend has finally reversed.
According to Car Guru‘s used car index, used car prices have risen an impressive 2.17% in the last 30 days alone.
However, there’s an exception: Tesla.
The price of used Tesla vehicles has been falling, like the rest of the used car market, since the pandemic; however, it is not benefiting from the reversal in the current macroeconomic situation.
While average used car prices rose more than 2% in the last 30 days, Tesla’s used car prices decreased by 1.34% in the US.
That’s due to oversupply, as many Tesla owners are selling their vehicles to distance themselves from the Tesla brand, which is associated with CEO Elon Musk and his increasingly divisive political views.
The demand to sell used Tesla vehicles is so high that many used car dealers, who had been fighting to acquire inventory just a year prior, are starting to be reticent about buying Tesla vehicles as the value decreases so rapidly.
In Quebec, Le Journal de Montréal spoke with local used car dealers and attended a car auction where many Tesla vehicles were up for sale, with some selling for half the price they were selling for just over a year ago.
Éric Piuze, owner of a used car dealership on Montreal’s South Shore, said (translated from French):
“People don’t want them anymore. The Elon Musk effect is very real in Quebec.”
The used car dealers at the auction noted that they are not confident they can sell the used Tesla quickly enough to avoid further value decreases.
Furthermore, they note that potential buyers are lowballing on Tesla vehicles because they are aware that inventory is high, creating a buyer’s market.
Dealers are also seeing higher defaults on Tesla car payments, as buyers who took on debt to purchase them just a few years ago struggle to make payments.
Piuze added (translated from French):
People paid a lot of money for Teslas. During the pandemic, we saw many people remortgaging their homes to buy a Tesla. Those days are over.
At its peak, the average used Tesla price was over $60,000 in 2022. Now, the same vehicles are worth a fraction, but their car payments are still high.
Electrek’s Take
Even with the used car market finally getting a breather from crashing prices, Tesla vehicles are not benefiting at all. This highlights a significant issue in the used Tesla market. It’s broken.
The market can’t absorb the surge in people selling their Tesla vehicles.
I wouldn’t want to be a company holding a fleet of Tesla vehicles right now. The value erosion is impressive.
I thought that maybe the Cybertruck was dragging the entire Tesla market down, with a 6.64% decrease in used value over the last 30 days. However, the Model Y alone saw a 1.67% decrease during the same period.
The good news is that the vast majority of people selling their used Tesla vehicles are purchasing other electric vehicles, thereby boosting the EV market. It’s also giving people the chance to get into Tesla vehicles for cheaper, although they should expect the value of those vehicles to decrease rapidly.
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The new flagship Q-Range electric drive cone plant from the quarry experts at Sandvik is engineered to be safe, quiet, and tough enough to operate in the most hostile environments the mining and quarrying industries can put it in.
Cone crushers enhance quarrying efficiency by enabling operators to crush rock, stone, and ore down to a precise size. In ELI5 terms, big rocks go into the top of the plant. Inside, a cone-shaped mantle moves inside a larger cone in an eccentric circle that grinds up the stone and ore between the mantle and the cone’s sides, breaking them up into smaller pieces. Once the pieces are ground to a given size determined by the position of the mantle within the larger cone, they fall out into a cone-shaped pile (but that’s just a coincidence).
Basic mechanisms of cone crusher
The cone crusher is part of a broader “train” of machines on a quarry that work together to turn a massive rock face into a fine sand and/or anything in between. With the launch of the QH443E electric cone plant, Sandvik now offers mine operators a fully electric driven train – one that includes the UJ443E fully electric jaw crusher launched in 2023, the QE342e hybrid scalper, and the QA452e hybrid triple-deck Doublescreen launched in 2022 (if you want to know more about how those work, let us know in the comments).
The new QH443E features a new heavy-duty feeder design equipped with electrically driven components, which can be powered by batteries, or a connection to grid power. An on-board diesel generator capable of running on 100% HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil), providing a number of more sustainable fuel choices and effectively reducing the mine’s operating costs.
Sandvik claims the electric delivers a 25% fuel savings on generator (and, obviously, 100% on grid or battery power), as well as a 78% reduction in oil usage compared to previous generations.
The new crusher bridges the gap between tracked mobile, wheeled portable, and stationary cone plants by combining electric drives and track mobility on a single platform. The QH443E uses Optik intuitive automation system and My Fleet remote monitoring software hooked to a suite of sensors that provide 24/7 telematics, geo-fencing, and remote-operator support that’s designed to ensure continuous crushing and optimal performance.
Those sensors also help drive innovations in safety, as well. “Safety is paramount in the design of the QH443E,” said Sandvik, in a statement. “The unit includes remote camera viewing of the crushing chamber, 270 degree access around the crusher for easy maintenance and mandatory audible and visual warnings for safe operation. Our extensive global distributor and sales support network ensures that you receive the best support for your operations.”
The QH443E is available in the EU now through Sandvik Mobile’s global dealer network, and will be available everywhere by Q4 of 2025.
Electrek’s Take
While there are a lot of people outside the drilling and mining space who may scoff at environmental concerns, the quest for improved efficiency and cost reduction among commercial fleet managers knows no political ideology. Simply put: If it’s better or cheaper, they’ll buy it. If it’s better and cheaper, they’ll buy two — and battery power is proving to be consistently better, in a broader scope of use cases, than diesel.
SOURCE | PHOTOS: Sandvik; via Global Highways, Pit & Quarry.
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The current EV era is ripe with revered classic car designs and nameplates that are being reborn as battery-powered rides – and the success of cars the Renault 5 proves it can be a winning formula. Today, I’m suggesting another classic that deserves a modern electric update: the OG Ford Taurus.
It might seem old and dated now, but when the original Ford Taurus made its debut in 1985, it was so fresh, so different, so futuristic that it was included, almost unchanged, in Robocop’s sci-fi vision of a dystopian Detroit. Really.
I’d buy that for a dollar
The aerodynamic design of the Ford Taurus wasn’t just futuristic, it was successful – and, from 1992 through 1996, the OG Taurus was not just Ford’s best-selling car, but the best selling car in North America.
The sedan market is very different forty years on – so different, in fact, that Ford doesn’t actually sell any sedans in North America. With the exception of the 2-door ICE Mustang, the Blue Oval brand doesn’t even sell any cars, and operates almost entirely as a truck and SUV brand.
Now, imagine Ford decides to get back into the sedan game. It’s 2025 now, and the Tesla Model 3 has proven that there’s enough demand for at least one successful electric sedan in the US. And, crucially, it seems like most of those buyers won’t be trading their Tesla back in for another one.
If there was ever a time to do it, that time is now – and Ford is perfectly positioned to fast-track a new-age Taurus.
The VW connection
Yes, I know that’s a Volkswagen – but hear me out. Ford and VW have a strong, existing relationship when it comes to EVs, having co-developed the MEB electric skateboard platform that underpins both the high-riding Ford Capri (itself a modern take on a classic Ford) and the Volkswagen ID.7 shown, above.
The ID.7 is an interesting piece, because it was always Volkswagen’s original intention to bring the car to the US, but slowing sedan demand and a dealer body that would rather sell Scout-branded SUVs and pickups than near/entry-luxe sedans killed the car’s chances before before the first one made it over. Now, it’s not coming to the US at all.
That might have been a mistake, since the the midsized ID.7 sedan is currently the best-selling EV in Germany, with sales continuing to accelerate throughout Europe in the wake of Tesla’s catastrophic, politically-fueled decline.
So, VW dealers don’t want a perfectly capable, Ford-developed, aerodynamic midsized sedan to sell in the US? No problem. Ramp up the BlueOval SK battery plant, set off a hiring frenzy at BlueOval City, start building an oval-badged ID.7-based Ford Taurus in the US, and slap a Tesla conquest rebate on the thing to help overcome Tesla buyer’s increasingly negative equity.
It even looks good in 90s Ford Taurus green.
Original content from Electrek; featured image by ChatGPT.
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