Potential market size reaches $10 trillion? "Wood Sister" fund Ark gives reasons for optimism about Tesla's autonomous driving
ARK Invest is bullish on Tesla's autonomous taxi market, with a potential market size estimated at $100 trillion. ARK analyst Tasha Keeney pointed out that Tesla has rich customer data, surpassing competitors like Waymo. Although Tesla is not the first to offer an autonomous driving platform, it is expected to be the first company to achieve scale. Tesla may launch a comprehensive robot taxi network in 2025 or 2026, with service costs as low as $0.30 to $0.40 per mile, making it highly competitive
According to the financial news outlet Zhitong Finance, ARK Investment Management, an investor in Tesla (TSLA.US), is optimistic about the WeRobot event hosted by the company. ARK's view on Tesla is that the company has a large data lake from customer vehicles, giving it a significant advantage over competitors like Waymo who lack the scale of data and manufacturing capabilities. While Tesla may not be the first company to offer an autonomous driving platform, ARK believes it is likely to be the first to achieve scale.
Tasha Keeney, the investment analysis director at ARK Investment Management, mentioned that while ride-hailing can help Tesla scale up, it should not be a prerequisite for Tesla's robotaxi platform, as all vehicles equipped with Tesla's in-house chips Hardware 3 and 4 can achieve full self-driving through wireless software updates. Keeney stated that ARK's research indicates that Tesla may launch a comprehensive robotaxi network by 2025 or 2026.
One of the highlights of the event was Tesla CEO Elon Musk's statement that the company may offer autonomous ride-hailing services on a large scale for as low as $0.30 to $0.40 per mile. Keeney emphasized that compared to the average cost of $2.4 per mile in the Western ride-hailing market and around $0.70 per mile for personally owned vehicles, the lower cost should make robotaxis highly competitive with human-driven ride-hailing platforms, attracting a larger user base. ARK's research suggests that Tesla is targeting a market much larger than Uber (UBER.US) and Didi, with a global market size exceeding $10 trillion