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Financial analysts at Deutsche Bank say Tesla needs to deliver on its long-promised robotaxi in 2026 to satisfy the company’s investors. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has said the company would have thousands of robotaxis on American roads by now, but so far it has deployed only a handful.

Elon Musk first began discussing the development of Tesla robotaxis for the United States in 2016. In April of 2019, he all but promised to have one million robotaxis on the roads of America by the end of 2020. A year later, Musk doubled down on his claim, saying his fleet of robotaxis would be ready at some point in 2020, pending regulatory approval.

“I think we will probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year,” Musk said during Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call in July 2025. He then hedged a little bit during the company’s third-quarter call in October, saying they are being “cautious about the deployment.”

In the wake of slower car sales and numerous lawsuits, Tesla needs to deliver its robotaxis in 2026

Now, according to The Street, financial analysts at Deutsche Bank say Tesla needs to deliver on its robotaxi promises “to keep investors from asking questions about other parts of the business.”

“While the autos business at Tesla may underperform in 2026, we think more attention is directed towards the company’s robotaxi expansion and efforts at humanoid development,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a recent note. “To the extent that the macro regime doesn’t change materially, we think investors will continue to look beyond weakness in the autos business.”

Tesla recently lost its status as the world’s top electric vehicle seller to Chinese automaker BYD. The company reported declining deliveries for the second consecutive year. Considering more than 90% of Tesla’s revenue comes from cars, projects like the robotaxi are key to satisfying investors.

What Tesla will call them when they do eventually hit American streets is a whole other question. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has already shot down Tesla’s attempts to trademark the name “Robotaxi.” Tesla also dropped the ball on using the name “Cybercab.” The trademark office recently suspended the company’s application for the name because another company has already taken it and is squatting on it.

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MotorBiscuit Senior Editor

Doug Sheckler

Doug Sheckler is a Senior Editor at MotorBiscuit and BroBible. He began his professional career working for an auto racing sanctioning body, and subsequently founded his own racing series, which remains in operation today. He has since spent the better part of two decades creating, editing, and writing for a variety of websites.

These days, he has a special affinity for hypercars and other exotic vehicles that he will never own. He also enjoys delving into stories about the world of criminals, the more foolish and/or clever the better, and is always up for a good conspiracy theory. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from the University of Iowa.

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