Tesla is set to a sharply lower open after reports that two men were killed in a crash involving a Tesla driverless vehicle.
According to reports, a 2019 Tesla Model S vehicle that was traveling at high speed, crashed into a tree and burst into flames after failing to negotiate a curve in a location north of Houston, police authorities say. The two occupants of the vehicle were killed by the blaze. None of them was in the driver’s seat.
As of the time of writing, Tesla is yet to issue a statement regarding the incident. However, this incident casts a shadow over the safety of self-driving vehicles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had promised that fully self-driving cars would be released in 2021. The driverless cars in circulation are of the semi-autonomous grade, requiring that a human must be on the steering wheel to maintain an override control when needed.
Tesla’s stock has opened nearly 5% lower and is trading at 714.00 as of the time of writing.
Today’s slide comes off a failed challenge at the 743.70 resistance line. The bearish gap has opened the door for the price to aim for the 693.75 support (50% Fibonacci retracement of the C-D wave in the “W” pattern). This downside move could come from gap closure and subsequent rejection at the aforementioned resistance. A further decline could see 654.12 coming into focus.
On the other hand, a recovery above 743.70 following gap closure opens the door for Tesla’s price to aim for the 784.76 resistance, with 820.06 (15 January low and 16 February high) and 864.01 serving as additional upside targets.
