Elon Musk has made Full Self Driving the main focus of Tesla. But it's not winning over most Americans.
Nearly half (48%) believe FSD should be illegal, according to a new study.
The Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report for August, published by political consulting firm Slingshot Strategies, surveyed 8,000 Americans. Just 14% said FSD would make them more likely to buy a Tesla vs. 35% who said it would make them less likely to so and 51% who said it had no impact.
CEO Musk has said that a lack of awareness is holding back FSD adoption by most buyers. But this study suggests that may not be the issue.
Americans overwhelmingly reject Elon's vision-only approach to self-driving. Some 70% say autonomous vehicles should use cameras and LiDAR vs. just 3% who back Tesla FSD's camera-only approach. And 71% of Americans want the government to mandate both.
Most self-driving efforts, including Waymo from Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon-owned Zoox and Chinese players such as Baidu and WeRide employ cameras, radar and LiDAR.
Waymo has robotaxis operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Phoenix and Atlanta, with several more cities in the coming year. Amazon's Zoox will soon open up its service to the general public in Las Vegas.
Musk has promised true self-driving "this year" or "next year" for a full decade. This summer Tesla has launched "robotaxis" in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay area. But the Austin vehicles have a safety monitor while the San Francisco-area employ safety drivers.
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Tesla Brand Woes
On Aug. 1, a Miami jury ruled that Tesla Autopilot was partially responsible for a fatal crash, ordering the EV maker to pay $243 million. Tesla had denied having key data from the crash until a hacker uncovered it. Tesla is appealing the verdict.
Strong majorities support tighter regulation of Tesla Autopilot and FSD marketing (78%) and requiring Tesla to keep accident data for law enforcement and the driver (64%).
Tesla's overall brand image, once highly positive, has become increasingly negative. A net 15% of Americans have a negative opinion of Tesla, down from -7% in April.
Much of the Tesla brand image decline reflects Musk's political involvement and comments.
Of course, if Tesla FSD were to achieve self-driving and EV maker removed safety monitors/drivers from robotaxis without many accidents, Americans' perception of FSD tech and perhaps Tesla itself would quickly turn.
But until that happens, FSD is not a selling point for most car buyers. That's a big concern with Tesla sales falling and its model lineup aging rapidly amid rising competition.
Tesla Stock
Tesla stock broke out past a 348.98 handle buy point on Tuesday. But shares reversed midweek, ultimately declining 1.8% to 333.86 thanks to Friday's 3.5% skid. TSLA stock wiped out gains from an early entry back on Aug. 22. The buy point is still valid, though investors could look to Wednesday's high of 355.39 as a new, alternate buy point.
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