EV sector weighed down by lackluster response to Cybercab unveiling

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares are on the defensive in Friday’s premarket trading as the unveiling of the company’s highly anticipated Cybercab underwhelmed investors.

Late Thursday, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Cybercab, Robovan, and Optimus humanoid robot at the “We, Robot” event in California. Musk rode into the event in the two-seater, no steering wheel Cybercab with doors that open upward like butterfly wings.

Musk said he expects to start fully unsupervised autonomous driving in Texas and California in 2025 for the firm’s Model 3 and Model Y. The Cybercab is expected to cost below $30,000 and will use inductive charging.

Analysts say the unveiling failed to lay out any near-term opportunities the Cybercab presents for the company, and was instead little more than a chance for Musk to reveal his long-term vision of autonomous driving.

“The event was light on details” and “lacked updates on FSD progress or data reflecting improvement in the system,” Barclays analyst wrote in Friday’s note.

The pressure on Tesla (TSLA) is dragging peers down in sympathy with shares of Rivian (RIVN) down 1%, Li Auto (LI) down 3%, NIO (NIO) lower by 2.5%, Lucid Group (LCID) off 1%, and Xpeng (XPEV) down almost 3%.

Ride-sharing stocks Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) are up 4.5% and 2.4%, respectively, on the lackluster reaction to the Cybercab.