A comparison of two top self-driving car services resulted in a major mistake by Tesla, handing the victory to its main competitor.
What's happening?
A pair of Business Insider writers recently tested the self-driving capabilities of Tesla and Waymo. The comparison took place in San Francisco, with each vehicle being given the same trip, from the Twin Peaks viewpoint to Chase Center.
Waymo's fully self-driving robotaxi featured 29 cameras, along with other radars and sensors. Tesla's Model 3 had eight external cameras and still required someone to sit behind the steering wheel.
As Business Insider noted, each vehicle had highlights. Waymo, the writers noted, was "safe but assertive" — including one time where it seemingly tired of waiting behind a car at a stop sign, and moved into an open lane to the right.
"It's got New York cab driver energy," Business Insider wrote of the Waymo.
Tesla, meanwhile, had a mostly smooth ride, including highway driving — which Waymo currently doesn't yet do outside of limited testing. But one moment caused the writers to give Waymo the nod.
During the last half-mile of the trip, the Tesla came to a stop at a red light, only to then drive through the intersection before the light turned green. There were no cars or people nearby, but the incident still gave the writers pause.
"At this point," they wrote, "we thought the winner was clear."
Why is this important?
Robotaxi services — and, more broadly, self-driving cars — are key to Tesla's future. In the company's first-quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said he expects millions of Teslas to be fully autonomous by the second half of 2026.
Sometime in June, Musk added, Tesla expects to launch its autonomous robotaxi program in Austin, Texas, using Model Ys at launch. The company is also working on its Cybercab, a self-driving, two-passenger vehicle that features no human-operated controls.
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Would you ride in a self-driving Tesla Robotaxi? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Heck yes 👍 This robotaxi launch comes at a key time for the company. Tesla has endured a bumpy start to 2025, including a decline in global sales.
Protecting the word "robotaxi" has even been difficult for Tesla. The company recently had its trademark application rejected for that term, with it viewed as being too generic.
What's next for electric vehicles?
Even though Tesla's sales are down, electric vehicle sales as a whole continue to trend upward.
Regardless of what company makes the car, buying an EV is one of the biggest steps a person can take to reduce their carbon impact. Even accounting for the pollution that occurs when producing an EV battery, the total pollution from an electric vehicle can be a fraction of that from a gas-powered one, over the cars' respective lifetimes.
Just like with many products made in other countries, the future of EV prices is an open question because of the Trump administration's announced tariffs. Fortunately, General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson has said his company, which manufactures many EVs in Mexico, expects prices to stay steady throughout this year.
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