Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) plunged 9% on Friday morning, following the company's long-awaited robotaxi unveiling, in which CEO Elon Musk revealed the Cybercab concept. However, the event failed to impress investors.

Musk unveiled the Cybercab, a silver two-seater vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, Thursday night at the company's "We, Robot" event.

There, Tesla highlighted its ambition to create a fleet of autonomous vehicles and robots. The goal, according to Musk, is for the Cybercab to be capable of driving autonomously from its launch. He added that Tesla hopes to produce the Cybercab before 2027, but did not offer details on where these vehicles will be manufactured.

Additionally, Musk commented that consumers will be able to purchase a Tesla Cybercab for less than $30,000.

He also noted that Tesla plans to have unattended FSD (Full Self-Driving) operating in Texas and California next year on Model 3 and Model Y models. As of today, this technology requires a human driver. Be ready to intervene at any time.

Pre-event expectation fades

Responding to Thursday's event, Barclays analysts said the revelations did not highlight short-term opportunities for Tesla, as the focus was on Musk's long-term vision for a future with fully autonomous driving.

“As expected, similar to other Tesla product launches, the event was light on details and instead emphasized the vision underpinning Tesla's growth efforts in AI/AV [autonomous vehicles].

There were no updates on short-term opportunities. Tesla did not show its low-cost model planned for the first half of 2025.

There were also no close updates provided on FSD progress or data reflecting improvements to the system.”

Barclays Autos and Mobility team in a note on Friday.

For their part, analysts at Piper Sandler mentioned in a note on Friday that “most trading-oriented firms will be disappointed with the robo-taxi revelation.”

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley suggested that Musk failed to prove that Tesla is an AI company during the event. The bank's analysts noted that Musk did not mention details about improvements to the FSD system, nor did he address rumors about possible collaboration plans between Tesla and xAI, Musk's AI company. Musk has previously denied these reports.

“The event overall disappointed expectations in several areas: lack of data on the FSD/technology exchange rate, ride-sharing economics and marketing strategy. We were generally disappointed with the substance and detail of the presentation. Therefore, we anticipate that TSLA will be under pressure following the event.”

Morgan Stanley analysts in a note on Friday.

Regulatory obstacles to full autonomy

It is expected to be several years before self-driving cars are a reality on public roads, as regulators are concerned about the safety features that should be included in these vehicles.

Among the few companies that have launched self-driving cars on public roads is Google's (GOOGL) Waymo, which has offered its robotaxis service to the public since June.