A big problem is that robotaxis and FSD are not the same product. The technologies are related, but they're not even the same technology. They don't have the same goals or the same constraints. For example, everyone developing robotaxis intensively 3D maps the areas in which they're intended to operate. They use lidar and other kinds of sensors in addition to optical cameras for both mapping and to operate their robotaxis. If it turns out that camera-only autonomous driving is insufficient, not only does Tesla not have the right sensors on their vehicles, they haven't got the mapping data either. Announcing a robo taxi is as much an act of creating a product by proclamation as a Mars colony.

Short of some legislative or trade barrier it feels like BYD is just going to steamroll Tesla

Quality problems real or percieved, lack of dealerships, and some trade barriers will hold them back for a while. "A while" could be as little as 3 years. Not enough time for Tesla to be ready.

I can't really imagine anywhere but North America repelling consumer demand for cheap EVs. Most countries importing what people want to buy seems like a circle of relative volume, cost and quality improvement destroying Teslas relevance.

Unfortunately, dealerships have lobbied for a lot of regulatory capture.

Tesla had to export their cars made in Texas and then import them back into Texas in order to sell them without a dealership.

The laws are from dealer groups with too much power trying to prevent car manufacturers from selling directly to the consumer.

I kinda like the idea of robotaxis. They could be cheaper than normal ones, and you wouldn't have any worry about maintenance, parking or even going back to where you left your car.

I live in a busy city and i dont even know where I'd leave a car if I had one. I often take taxis and this might make them even more viable.

Robotaxis would be unnecessary when you embrace public transit like light rail or trolleybus. They are more efficient and thus cheaper.

Why not both? Robotaxi technology would allow for adaptively routed minibuses to be very cheap - and in fact be even better suited at it, which would solve the last-mile problem and make every other type of public transit even more efficient.

Plenty of people are willing to pay much more for private rides.

Tying robotaxis and mass transit seems like a winning combination. Mass transit can get one within a kilometer and a robotaxi can do the rest.

Musk wants to make sure that BYD has little or no competition. Kamikaze management yet again from another American company. Musk is such a genius!

I criticize Elon often and harshly, but putting off a low cost car might be the rational and realistic part of this set of decisions: The opportunity cost of cybertruck and other side quests Tesla has been on make doing a low-cost car something that should have been started 4 years ago, using the money that's been spent on a second rate robot or a semi truck that's good for hauling potato chips.

I criticise Apple often and harshly, but putting off a premium car might be the rational and realistic part of this set of decisions.

Personally, I think Tesla are left holding the can at this juncture ... and the next 5 years are going to be extremely challenging for them.

Margins eaten away at the premium level - with no hope of clawing them back at the lower cost mass level.

Agreed, and it shows that planning that takes into account project risk is very valuable. While Apple was spending what probably amounts to tens of billions on a car project, they never let that be a threat to their business or even to their valuation. So burning all that money was nearly a non-event, and didn't ding Tim Cook's reputation at all.

Tesla meanwhile is left short of the resources it will take to retain a leading position in EVs. The robotaxi announcement just adds risk.

> Margins eaten away at the premium level - with no hope of clawing them back at the lower cost mass level.

I'm somewhat surprised they don't try to make a car in the luxury segment. There'd be a learning curve -- expectations for comfort, build quality, and functionality are definitely several steps beyond what they've tried before -- but that's where the margins are, and some low-volume high-margin sales can pay for a lot of see-what-sticks-to-the-wall in the econobox market.

Market segmentation is a thing. Chasing price sensitive consumers doesn’t necessarily make you very profitable.

No but at the same time, Tesla aren't renowned for their build quality like VW.