“I think this will be the biggest product ever, of any kind,” Musk bragged. Time will tell if Musk and Tesla are able to deliver on the ambitious promises made during Thursday’s flashy product launch. The company has in the past repeatedly missed deadlines set by Musk, including a 2015 claim that Tesla’s vehicle fleet would reach “full autonomy” within three years. In 2024, this is still not the case. The Cybercab will be forced to compete with other autonomous vehicles, including the Alphabet-owned Waymo and other Chinese manufacturers. By pursuing a lower-cost technological path for Tesla’s self-driving vehicles, Musk believes the company will be able to scale up far quicker than rivals. Tesla’s strategy is simpler and much cheaper than that of its rivals but has critical weaknesses. Chief among those is that the AI technology underpinning its self-driving system makes it nearly impossible to pinpoint why a crash or other failure occurred — something that could concern regulators. Tesla’s rivals use similar AI and camera technology, but layer on so-called redundant systems and more expensive sensors as a safety precaution. Shares of ride-hailing firms Uber and Lyft were up about four per cent in premarket action, in a sign that Musk’s announcements were not seen as a threat to the companies. — With files from Reuters Advertisement