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Visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk might be tempted to solve the problem of commercializing air taxies, also known as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, argued Morgan Stanley autos Analyst Adam Jonas.
Most Tesla stock analysts tend to focus predominantly on the company’s core car business when valuing the company—but not so Adam Jonas.
In his latest research note, the Morgan Stanley bull argued Tesla could leverage its expertise in artificial intelligence, batteries and manufacturing to enter the fledgling market for air taxies, also known as electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs).
For years these aircraft have been predicted to revolutionize urban transport, but so far even leading providers like Archer Aviation are still in development. Last week, its Midnight prototype, which is scheduled for its first deliveries later this year to the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi, successfully completed a piloted flight test.
While Jonas believes solving this technological problem is exactly the kind of challenge Tesla engineers love to tackle, he acknowledged that Tesla, while not refuting the idea outright, said it was stretched too thin to seriously contemplate an eVTOL.
“In our opinion, that’s a decidedly different type of answer,” he wrote to clients, according to a report by Teslarati. “Is Tesla an aviation/defense-tech company in auto/consumer clothing?”
Fortune could not independently verify Jonas’ comments and Tesla did not respond to a request for a statement.
White House wants the U.S. to lead in eVTOLs
The Trump administration is likewise interested in supporting the emergence of flying cars as a mode of transportation.
“eVOTLs [sic] are going to fundamentally transform how the public travels. Let’s make sure the U.S. leads the way,” transportation secretary Sean Duffy posted on Monday.
At present the eVTOL market could use any help it can get. Many promising startups including Lilium and Volocopter ran into financial difficulties before they could develop a commercially viable service.
Part of the problem is eVTOLs need to achieve very high safety standards while at the same time remaining fully autonomous, because scaling up the business typically means removing costly pilots from the equation. Nor can enough customers be found that possess a pilot license.
Whether Tesla would ever enter the market is debatable, though.
On the one hand, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been clear about where his focus lies. All attention is currently on its autonomous ride hailing fleet set to begin operations this month in Austin; the commercialization of its prototype CyberCab dedicated robotaxi; and bringing the Optimus humanoid robot to market.
Jonas sees growing threat to Tesla’s EV business from China
On the other, Musk is a chameleon who not only pivoted Tesla from its EV focus to AI-enabled robotics, but also convinced shareholders that staying invested will eventually pay off handsomely once he commercializes his prototype droid Optimus. Moreover aeronautics is the chief expertise of Musk’s other main company, SpaceX, allowing for a potential collaboration.
Jonas’ eVTOL idea isn’t the first time he’s openly suggested a new business idea that could capture the imagination of investors. The Morgan Stanley auto analyst once argued to clients that Tesla should consider taking on Apple in the lucrative smartphone market.
Recently he has become increasingly concerned about the growing competitive threat posed by Chinese EV brands, whose offerings like the Xiaomi YU7 crossover potentially offers superior value-for-money than Tesla’s own rival Model Y—or any other western competitor.
“China may have already won the EV battle,” Jonas wrote late last month, adding this “explains why Tesla is moving away from ‘car’ and going all-in on autonomy.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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