Afloat in a sea of autonomousdriving converts and questionable robotics, I found myself a doubter.

IT BEGAN, as most things in Los Angeles do, with a traffic jam. Cybertrucks approaching the Warner Bros. studio parking lot were clogging up the lanes a good four hours before Tesla's Robotaxi event was due to start.

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Being deeply allergic to waiting in line, I parked the Cadillac CT5 I was driving a few blocks away and walked to the staging area.

With time to kill, I stood outside in the shade of the studio's landscaping and watched folks in "Occupy Mars" and "Tesla FSD Supervisor" T-shirts mill about in the humid parking garage. When it was finally time, we all shuffled across the street and waited in a different line to enter the party.

Everyone was sharing travel stories and their Tesla associations. They were owners, shareholders, dealers, and fans, and while they occasionally paused when I admitted to not owning a Tesla, they remained friendly. The men, and it was almost all men, were excited, talking about stock prices and their hopes and fears for the presentation.