The robotaxi price war has begun. Here’s everything you need to know.
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Right now, in several American cities, you can open an app and a driverless car will pull up and take you wherever you want to go. No small talk. There are no wrong turns. No tip. There is no perfume to cover the smells of cigarettes.
A self-drive Waymo ride in San Francisco costs on average $8.17. A human Uber in the same city? $17.25. The robotaxi price war is here.
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I live in Phoenix most of the time and see Waymos everywhere. In the supermarket. On the highway. Sitting at red lights with no one behind the wheel, just vibrating. I haven’t gotten on any yet. But I give myself two weeks.
If I survive, I will share the journey. Mostly joking.
A Waymo crosses Congress Avenue at 8th Street in front of the Capitol as rain arrives in the Austin area on Friday, January 23, 2025, ahead of anticipated temperature drops and freezing rain over the weekend. (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Who is on the road?
Waymo (owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company), is the undisputed leader. It offered 15 million driverless trips in 2025, and today it is around 400,000 per week. Valued at 126 billion dollars. Available in Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta and Miami. Coming in 2026: Dallas, Denver, DC, London, Tokyo and more.
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Tesla launched in Austin last June, but it’s long behind schedule. Approximately 31 cars. One tester made 42 trips and each of them still had a safety monitor on board. So supervised.
Zoox (owned by Amazon) is the wild card. Its capsule has no steering wheel and drives in both directions. Rides are free in Las Vegas and San Francisco while they wait for approval to charge.
A cruise vehicle in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. Cruise LLC, the autonomous vehicle startup majority owned by General Motors Co., said it is offering free rides to non-employees in San Francisco for the first time, a move that generates another $1.35 billion from investor SoftBank Vision Fund. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
How do they ‘see’ these things?
Waymo uses cameras, lidar (laser radar that builds a 3D map around the car), and traditional radar. Works in total darkness and heavy rain. Tesla only uses cameras. Eight of them, without lidar. Cheaper, that’s why they offer trips for $1.99 per kilometer.
Now, are they safe?
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Tesla has reported seven accident incidents to regulators since its launch. Waymo says it has 80% fewer injury accidents than human drivers. But NHTSA has recorded 1,429 incidents with Waymo since 2021, including 117 injuries and two deaths. Three software recalls, including one last December for passing stopped school buses.
A friend of mine took a Waymo and dropped her off about a mile from where she was going. There is no way to change it. There is no human being who can signal to him. Just a robot car that said, “You’ve arrived.”
She hadn’t done it. So yes. I’m curious. But I’m also cautious.
A Tesla Inc. robotaxi on Oltorf Street in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 22, 2025. The launch of Tesla Inc.’s driverless taxi service on Sunday will begin modestly, with a handful of vehicles in limited areas of the city. (Tim Goessman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This is where it gets spicy
When a robotaxi gets confused, a human at a remote center sees through the car’s cameras and plots a path for it. In a Senate hearing on Wednesday, February 4, Waymo admitted that some of those helpers are located in the Philippines. The senators were not amused. I wasn’t either.
Your car stays parked 95% of the time. Robotaxis operate more than 15 hours a day. When a self-driving ride costs less than gas and insurance, owning a car feels like a gym membership you never use.
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The future of driving is that no one drives. Heading in a completely new direction.
Do you know anyone who still thinks self-driving cars are science fiction? Forward this. A ride awaits you.
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