Tesla Robotaxi Offers 2x Cheaper Fares Than Waymo with Longer Wait Times, 14 Crashes
Jefferies analysts found Tesla’s Robotaxi fares are half the cost of Waymo but offered 2 driverless trips of 15 and failed to book rides 25% of the time. The service reported 5 new crashes, bringing the total to 14 since mid-2025 and runs suboptimal routes causing longer trip times.
1. Jefferies Ride Analysis
Jefferies analysts conducted over 15 Tesla and 19 Waymo rides in Austin, finding Tesla Robotaxi fares about 50% lower than Waymo’s but only 2 of 15 Tesla trips ran fully driverless and 25% of booking attempts failed due to unavailability. They also observed suboptimal routing that extended trip durations.
2. Safety and Reliability
Tesla’s Robotaxi reported 5 new crashes in Austin, raising total incidents to 14 since its mid-2025 launch and highlighting ongoing reliability and safety challenges for its autonomous fleet.
3. Waymo Comparison
Waymo rides in Austin took inefficient routes, arriving on average over 3 minutes later than estimated, included one instance of remote human intervention and maintained pricing similar to UberX via the Uber platform.
4. Future Cybercab Plans
A Cybercab prototype was spotted testing on a Chicago highway days before Tesla’s April production target, signaling progress toward a $30,000 autonomous vehicle aimed at expanding its robotaxi offerings.