Tesla (TSLA) Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, is still in beta mode. However, some interesting things have happened since the launch day.
Early Access Robotaxi riders were charged $4.20 on their credit cards. Some of these launch-day riders shared screenshots of their bank statement showing a $4.20 charge for every ride they took.
Almost all of the Early Access riders took multiple rides in a Tesla Robotaxi on 22nd June. Since these testers used their Tesla Accounts to log in to the Tesla Robotaxi phone app, their credit cards already on file with Tesla were charged $4.20 flat for each ride.
The $4.20 per ride Robotaxi fare is a marketing gimmick that points at Elon Musk’s 2018 Tesla take-private fiasco. I guess Musk is going to keep bringing it back from time to time in forms of memes and Tesla numbers to taunt at Tesla (TSLA) short-sellers and naysayers who wanted the company to go bankrupt at the time.
Since the Tesla Robotaxi service is very limited in terms of the number of cars and users in Austin, Texas right now. The automaker chose the $4.20 fare to ignite and fuel the meme culture on social media.
Tesla is currently running its Robotaxi service in a geofenced area. According to Tesla investor, car owner, and influencer, Rob Maurer, the Tesla Robotaxi app shows pre-determined pickup and drop-off locations in this geofenced area.
However, this geofenced area is not small. Rob says that he took two 10 mile trips on the launch day, and it took 20 minutes for each ride. So, it’s not like Tesla Robotaxis are running around a small town in Austin, Texas. “It’s a pretty big area,” says Rob Maurer (Tesla Daily Podcast).
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives also took multiple rides in the Tesla Robotaxi and noted how safe, comfortable, and pedestrian friendly the Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) experience was.
Robotaxi Impact on Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Stock
As we predicted in our last Robotax report, the success of the Robotaxi service launch in Austin had a positive impact on Tesla’s stock price the next day (Monday).
Tesla shares jumped from a $322.70 close on Friday to a $353.89 close on Monday (an increase of almost 10% in a single day). However, on Tuesday, TSLA stock dropped to a close of $340.47, but still, a hike of 4.46% in the last 5 business days.
This hike added around $100 billion to the Tesla stock on Monday and an increase of $19 billion to Elon Musk’s net worth. Tesla (TSLA) once again crossed a $1 trillion market cap and still holding the spot.
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