Why Tesla Stock Probably Won’t Get a Big Boost From the Roadster
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk recently stated that the company’s upcoming EV, Roadster, will be “sentient.” Taking a look at Dictionary.com’s definition, “sentient” means “having the power of perception by the senses; conscious” or “characterized by sensation and consciousness.” The Roadster, like all EVs equipped with Tesla’s driving-assistance systems, will likely have some ability to perceive its environment and react accordingly. Additionally, Musk reported that the super car EV would be able to perform some “tricks,” suggesting that these functions will be fun to watch but not practical. So the Roadster probably can carry out some fairly useless but showy functions that Tesla’s other EVs cannot deliver.
But given the meaningful limitations of Tesla’s driving-assistance products and the many past targets set by Musk that Tesla has not come close to meeting, it would be very surprising if the Roadster can carry out important functions that the robotaxis of other firms, such as Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Waymo, cannot perform. Consequently, the niche Roadster is unlikely to be a big game changer for TSLA stock.
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And speaking of the shares, their valuation remains exorbitant, particularly considering that the company’s self-driving rollout remains in its early stages, while Tesla trails Waymo by a wide margin in this area. And as noted earlier, there are indications that Tesla’s self-driving system still seems to have major shortcomings. Also importantly, the company’s humanoid robots are reportedly not performing very well, according to a report published by The Information.
The Limitations of Tesla’s Automated-Driving Products and Musk’s Many Missed Targets
Tesla’s driving-assistance offerings still have many shortcomings. For July alone, for example, the automaker “reported 236 crashes involving its driver-assist systems,” electrek noted. And some of these accidents are severe. In July, four of the crashes involving Autopilot or Full Self-Driving (FSD) caused a fatality.
Nor have the firm’s robotaxis had a great safety record, at least as of last year. Electrek has stated that “Tesla’s autonomous vehicles (were) crashing at a rate much higher than human drivers” between July 2025 and November 2025, despite the fact that humans were monitoring the EVs at that point. Recently, federal regulators have been probing allegations that Tesla’s robotaxis are frequently speeding in school zones. Due to concerns about speeding and Tesla “overselling” the tech’s capabilities, the EU has not yet approved Tesla’s driver-assistance products. The company has since rebranded “FSD” to “Tesla Assisted Driving” in the EU market as a response to regulators’ concerns.
Meanwhile, many, if not most, of Musk’s past aspirations have not materialized. For instance, in July 2025, he predicted that Tesla’s robotaxis would serve 50% of U.S. residents by the end of the year, and he forecast that the company’s factories would be utilizing “thousands” of humanoid robots by the conclusion of 2025. Neither of these goals appears close to being met even now, as “more than 1,000” humanoid robots are working in TSLA’s factories, and its robotaxis have a substantial presence in just parts of Texas and Florida. Moreover, as of last month, there have reportedly been significant problems with the robots’ hands, while their ability to learn many tasks and perform reliably has been limited.
Perhaps most pertinently, in 2023, Musk stated that Tesla had determined how to develop some aspects of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). AGI is defined as “a hypothetical form of AI that can learn, reason, and perform any intellectual task at or above a human level.” Obviously, the company still hasn’t come close to attaining any form of AGI.
Still Way Behind Waymo and Still Sporting an Enormous Valuation
According to one source, Waymo is operating 4,000 robotaxis in the U.S., while Tesla weighs in with just 482, with the vast majority of those only in Texas. So Tesla clearly has ceded first-mover advantage in the space to Waymo.
Despite this lack of first-mover advantage in the robotaxi space, Tesla’s multiple execution issues, and Musk’s lack of reliability, the shares still have a gigantic forward price-earnings ratio of 523x.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com