Tesla robotaxi event comes after years of Elon Musk’s missed deadlines

With Tesla’s hotly anticipated robotaxi event hours away, investors will soon get a glance at what CEO Elon Musk has called the CyberCab.

After a decade of unfulfilled promises to deliver autonomous vehicles, capable of traveling reasonable distances safely without a human at the wheel, there’s a hefty dose of skepticism about what Tesla can do technologically, and when its robotaxi might actually hit the market.

The robotaxi day, or “We, Robot,” event is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. Pacific time at a Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California and will be livestreamed via X.

Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA, cautioned in a preview on Oct. 4, that conditions at a closed course on a movie studio lot could make a Tesla robotaxi look more advanced than it would be in normal traffic and on public roads. CFRA has a hold rating on the stock.

Tesla shares dipped about 1% on Thursday to $238.77. They’re now down almost 4% for the year and more than 40% below their record reached in 2021.

The event comes a week after Tesla reported third-quarter deliveries of 462,890, lifting the number to 1.35 million for the year so far. For all of last year, Tesla reported deliveries of 1.81 million.

Bullish analysts at firms including Wedbush, ARK and RBC Capital Markets expressed optimism in their reports about the company’s ability to keep growing sales long-term, while delivering higher-tech products, including a long-delayed autonomous vehicle, humanoid robotics and other AI-driven products and services.

Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Wednesday, that he’ll be at the event and expects to test the robotaxi.

Munster, a long-time Tesla bull, said he thinks the company will roll out robotaxis in some cities by the end of 2025. He’s also expecting Tesla to announce plans to produce an affordable EV, possibly just a stripped down version of its Model 3, and an electric van.

He said that while he expects the stock to be down after the event, it could “make new highs” over the next two years as deliveries start to accelerate.

Tesla was once seen as a pioneer in autonomous vehicle development, but has never managed to deliver or demonstrate robotaxi technology. The company is now considered a laggard.

Alphabet’s Waymo in the U.S., and a number of Chinese firms, are all operating commercial robotaxi services today.

Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a report on Wednesday that if Tesla can launch a “level 4” robotaxi, meaning it can operate without a driver at the wheel, using its current “suite of hardware and software,” it would result in a cost-per-mile advantage relative to peers.

In addition to missed deadlines, Tesla has had safety issues with the its driver assistance systems, which are currently marketed…