The credibility of Elon Musk’s autonomous driving promises faces another high-stakes examination. The Tesla CEO has committed to deploying driverless robotaxis in Austin by year’s end, marking the fourth such announcement in 2025. This goal carries immense weight for the company’s $1.5 trillion valuation, as analysts estimate approximately $850 billion of that figure is predicated on the future success of robotaxis and humanoid robots.
A Three-Week Countdown to Proof
During a recent xAI hackathon, Musk declared that the challenge of unsupervised operation is “pretty much solved.” He stated that within about three weeks, Tesla’s autonomous vehicles should be navigating Austin streets with no human inside—”not even in the passenger seat.” This would see the deadline met just two days before the new year.
Supporting this ambition, data from teslafsdtracker.com indicates significant progress. The latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) software iteration, version 14.1.7, now averages 9,487 miles between instances requiring critical driver intervention. This represents a dramatic leap from earlier versions, which managed only a few hundred miles between interventions. Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter views this as a breakthrough, maintaining his $500 price target for Tesla shares.
Wall Street’s Persistent Doubts
Despite internal progress, skepticism on Wall Street remains widespread. Competitor Waymo has operated fully driverless vehicles in Austin for some time. Gordon Johnson, an analyst at GLJ Research, highlights that Waymo’s vehicles achieve over 17,000 miles between interventions. Furthermore, Waymo solidified its market position by entering a partnership with Uber in March 2025, establishing a tangible lead.
The financial stakes of Tesla’s autonomy project are underscored by Deutsche Bank analysis, which attributes $850 billion of the firm’s market capitalization directly to robotaxis and robotics. Given Tesla’s current price-to-earnings ratio of 313 and a forward P/E of 200, the failure to achieve full autonomy would fundamentally undermine this valuation logic.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Tesla?
The current analyst consensus, based on 34 researchers, is a “Hold” rating with an average price target of $383.54. This sits 15% below the stock’s present trading level.
Hardware Promises and Legal Challenges
Musk has also unveiled plans for future hardware generations. The forthcoming AI5 system is promised to be 10 to 40 times more powerful than the current HW4, with mass production slated for 2027. AI6 would follow shortly thereafter.
This roadmap, however, exists alongside an ongoing controversy. Tesla has long asserted that all its vehicles are equipped with “the complete hardware needed for autonomous driving.” This claim is now the subject of global class-action lawsuits demanding retrofits for older models that owners argue cannot support the promised functionality.
December’s Decisive Moment
Some institutions retain a measured outlook. Morgan Stanley analysts express cautious optimism, with strategist Andrew Percoco describing FSD as the “crown jewel” of Tesla’s automotive business and identifying 2026 as a potential inflection point. The coming weeks will ultimately reveal whether Musk delivers on this latest pledge or if it joins the list of 2025’s unproven announcements.
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