Tesla’s presentation on Monday of its ambitious plans for autonomous robotaxis started 40 minutes late, so investors on its livestream had plenty of time to watch a promotional film about the pleasures of driving its cars. Over and over, accompanied by a pulsing soundtrack, Teslas raced across sunlit hills in joyful freedom.
When the event finally started, Elon Musk, Tesla’s founder and chief showman, displayed a similar rush to overtake his rivals by getting regulatory approval for fully self-driving cars by next year. Tesla drivers will be able to take their hands off the wheel, and gaze at the passing scenery safely as the car drives itself, he promised.
It is always hard to know how seriously to take Mr Musk’s claims for his products. This event was a useful distraction from Tesla’s recent fall in sales and the expected disclosure of poor first-quarter results on Wednesday. His insistence that it is “financially insane” to buy anything other than a Tesla can be taken with a pinch of salt.