Gary Zhou 
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated once again that the company is close to solving autonomy while highlighting the automaker’s efforts and what they mean to its valuation.
“Although I’ve said this before, I think we will solve autonomy soon,” Musk said today (via Reuters), speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris.
Musk has long highlighted Tesla’s prowess in the EV space, and as the automaker has prioritized solving autonomy for the better part of a decade, it has not been uncommon for him to state the company is close to being the first to roll out a fully self-driving car.
Tesla has its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving suites available, but they are not fully autonomous, meaning a driver can not sleep while the car is moving. Instead, the automaker has said that its FSD Beta is “an SAE Level 2 driver support feature,” but this is far from the Level 5 grade that would indicate it is fully autonomous.
Musk also said during the VivaTech event that Tesla’s driving force behind its valuation is autonomy.
“The value of the company is primarily on the basis of autonomy. That’s really, I think, the main driver of our value.”
Tesla shares have spiked recently in significant fashion, adding more than $200 billion in value because of partnerships announced with Ford and GM that would see the companies adopt Tesla’s NACS charging connector and gain access to its Supercharger Network.
However, Tesla’s biggest bulls have highlighted the importance of autonomy to their outlook for the stock for the future. ARK Invest has stated that an operational robotaxi fleet would surge Tesla’s stock price significantly.
Musk’s visit to Europe has included numerous meetings with officials from both France and Italy as the company is expected to release the location of its next Gigafactory by the end of the year. It seems like Europe may be the location it will end up, as reports of negotiations with Spain were revealed earlier this week.
However, Tesla has been strongly linked to France recently.
