Tesla wildcard: Is the master plan for a robotaxi fleet, Model 2 or both?

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) added 1.7% on Thursday and is now swapping hands at a higher price than when the automaker's Q1 deliveries miss sent some shockwaves across the broad EV sector.

The catalyst for the recent share price bounce was the announcement late last week by Elon Musk of a robotaxi event on August 8. While the robotaxi concept for a next-generation self-driving vehicle that could make money for owners has been bandied about since 2016 in various shapes and forms, the event in August is anticipated to be the formal unveiling.

Some analysts have lamented that the Model 2 is more crucial to the Tesla (TSLA) story than a robotaxi fleet. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives thinks Tesla (TSLA) should pursue both.

"Our view is while this is an exciting announcement around robotaxis we do not expect full autonomy (no steering wheel models) until 2030 and believe it is crucial to deliver a Model 2 vehicle over the next 18 months ALONG with robotaxis. If robotaxis is viewed as the magic model to replace Model 2 we would view this as a debacle negative for the Tesla story. It would be a risky gamble if Tesla moved away from the Model 2 and went straight to robotaxis."

Ives said the firm is still long-term bullish on TSLA, but warned that the future is a bit murky.

EV watch: Lucid Group (LCID), Faraday Future Intelligent (FFIE), and Rivian Automotive (RIVN) all traded at new lows on Thursday as concerns on demand, pricing, and profitability persisted. Polestar Automotive (PSNY) fell more than 8%, but avoided printing a new 52-week low.