From The Editor
Managing Editor’s Note: Tomorrow night, Jeff is airing his October Million-Dollar Cycle strategy session…
He’s diving into this strange, cyclical market phenomenon that happens every four years. Despite its predictability, most folks don’t notice it until it’s already played out…
But it presents a huge opportunity for those who know what to watch for – and how to play the cycle. We’ve seen this cycle play out four times since 2011… and every time, it has created multiple opportunities to turn $1,000 into six figures.
Jeff’s strategy session is coming up soon. Be sure to go here to automatically add your name to the guest list if you want to join him tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. ET.
Last week was a heavy travel week – and a very fun one – with several cities in play…
No matter how much I research a technology, a subject, a company, or an industry, I’ll always pick up additional insights in the field, which is precisely why I hit the road so often.
And whenever there is something extraordinary that is happening in the world of high tech that has incredible investment potential and impacts the real world, you can bet I’m going to be there to ensure you and I aren’t missing anything.
And that’s exactly what brought me to Austin, Texas…
The Epicenter of Autonomous Driving
My travels last week culminated in boots-on-the-ground research in Austin.
There is something very special happening right now. A bloom of autonomous driving, and Austin is the epicenter.
After all, that’s the birthplace of Tesla’s Cybercab – something I raced down to Texas to experience for myself.
I have been researching and writing about autonomous driving technology for so many years now. I’ve also been riding and testing autonomous vehicles for more than a decade. The very first version that I sat in was an early prototype of a Google (Waymo) self-driving car in 2011.
A lot has changed since then.
Many of my skeptical subscribers have written in over the years about this technology. Some have called me crazy for my predictions. Or about my big calls on Tesla (TSLA). It’s always good to have a skeptical eye and ask the good questions. I appreciate you.
This is the kind of technology that most have to see for themselves, experience for themselves, to believe it. So, I’ll show you rather than tell you.
Hands-Free Around Austin
Tesla’s Robotaxi app is super simple to use. Just as easy as Uber or Lyft. Just choose between a Cybercab or a Robotaxi, enter your address, and wait for your Cybercab.
When your Cybercab arrives, the front bumper will emit a color that matches the color on your Robotaxi app. Either the car will pull over, or you can press a button to tell the Cybercab to pull over and stop for pickup.
When I stood next to the car, the door opened automatically, revealing the spacious interior. When you remove the center console, the steering wheel, gas pedal, and brakes, there is nothing but space and a couple of seats that can recline.
Because my own Tesla Model Y has been driving me around for years, I chose the Cybercab over the Robotaxi, which still has a steering wheel as it is a production Tesla vehicle.
Sitting in the passenger seat feels just like being a passenger in any taxi or Uber. It’s just that you have the entire cabin to yourself. It’s very peaceful, and if you need someone to talk to, all the Cybercabs are equipped with Grok if you have any questions or just want conversation.
I spent a few hours riding in Cybercabs both in downtown Austin, as well as farther out in the suburbs. I even took a couple trips that lasted just about an hour. These are fully autonomous, level 5, self-driving cars. You don’t have to do a thing when you ride.
I made a couple work calls and took care of a bunch of e-mail along the way. The rides were all perfectly smooth, far better than any human driver.
And I’m not kidding at all when I say this…
I was tired on one of the trips and passed out for a 10-minute nap. I had a GoPro mounted to the windshield which captured me dozing off. I felt completely comfortable doing so, knowing that I was going to make it safely to my destination.
Recommended Links
Autonomous Driving on the Rise
In Austin, one thing that you’ll see a lot of is robotaxis. They are everywhere. In a single ride, I saw more Cybercabs than I could count, as well as Tesla Robotaxis, a couple Waymos, an Avride, and even a Zoox self-driving vehicle.
And yes, so many of them were driving around without any passengers inside. It is both an odd and awesome sight at the same time.
Just 30 days after the official launch of the Cybercab, Tesla has already scaled to more than 300 Cybercabs serving the greater Austin area.
The increase has been rapid, and it is visible to anyone on the streets. It would be very hard not to see at least a couple in any given hour.
But don’t let the small number of Cybercabs fool you.
At an event at the Gigafactory on Saturday, Tesla’s Robotaxi engineering lead explained that the current slow ramp in Cybercabs is intentional. They are working through the functionality and the quirks before the entire fleet of Teslas is enabled for unsupervised driving.
You might think that I’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid, so I’d like to be clear that I’m still entirely objective about the technology.
Are the Cybercabs/Robotaxis perfect? No, not yet. They are, however, perfectly safe.
Through one intersection, there was an oncoming police car with sirens hauling through the intersection, and the Cybercab caught it and stopped in a split second.
Meanwhile, three cars with human drivers barreled through the intersection in front of the police car, almost causing a terrible accident.
Room for Improvement
Where the Cybercabs need to improve is on the pickups and drop-offs.
Sometimes the Cybercab will pull over and stop 50-60 feet away on the other side of the street. It’s a small inconvenience, but something that needs to be improved upon.
And when dropping off, there were similar issues.
When returning to my hotel, the Cybercab would drop me off at the curb, often 50 feet or so from the hotel entrance. Again, not a big deal, but ideally the Cybercab would know to pull into the hotel entrance and drop off at the door.
This was the primary area of improvement, and something that requires additional training of the vision-based neural network that powers the full self-driving software.
And here’s the thing…
Once these small kinks are worked out in the coming months, this technology will be ready for nationwide rollout. It will be like a waterfall.
Gradually… Then Suddenly
In the near future, someone will ask:
How did the rollout of Tesla’s nationwide unsupervised driving network happen?
To quote Hemingway, I’ll say, “Gradually and then suddenly.”
It will happen seemingly all at once. Every Tesla with a subscription to full self-driving will simply download a new software version, and it will be enabled for unsupervised autonomy.
Don’t think for a minute that this isn’t happening.
It is. And if you don’t believe what I’ve just shown you, please visit Austin and experience it for yourself.
I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Jeff