The robotaxi price war has started. Here’s everything you need to know.

Right now, successful respective American cities, you tin unfastened an app, and a car with nary operator pulls up and takes you wherever you privation to go. No tiny talk. No incorrect turns. No tip. No perfume covering up the cigaret smells.

A driverless Waymo thrust successful San Francisco averages $8.17. A quality Uber successful the aforesaid city? $17.25. The robotaxi terms warfare is here.

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I unrecorded successful Phoenix astir of the time, and I spot Waymos everywhere. At the market store. On the freeway. Sitting astatine reddish lights with cipher down the wheel, conscionable vibing. I inactive haven’t gotten successful one. But I’m giving myself 2 weeks.

If I survive, I’ll stock the ride. Mostly kidding.

A Waymo drives crossed Congress Avenue connected 8th Street successful beforehand of the Capitol Building arsenic rainfall arrives successful the Austin country connected Friday, Jan. 23, 2025 up of anticipated drops successful somesthesia and freezing rainfall implicit the weekend.  (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)

Who’s connected the road?

Waymo (owned by Google’s genitor Alphabet) is the wide leader. It gave 15 cardinal driverless rides successful 2025, and today, it’s astir 400,000 per week. Valued astatine $126 billion. Available successful Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta and Miami. Coming successful 2026: Dallas, Denver, DC, London, Tokyo and more.

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Tesla launched successful Austin past June but is mode behind. Roughly 31 cars. One tester took 42 trips, and each azygous 1 inactive had a information show connected board. So supervised.

Zoox (owned by Amazon) is the chaotic card. Their pod has nary steering instrumentality and drives successful some directions. Rides are escaped successful Vegas and San Francisco portion they hold for support to charge.

A Cruise conveyance successful San Francisco, California, U.S., connected Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022. Cruise LLC, the self-driving car startup that is bulk owned by General Motors Co., said its offering escaped rides to non-employees successful San Francisco for the archetypal time, a determination that triggers different $1.35 cardinal from capitalist SoftBank Vision Fund. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

How bash these things ‘see’?

Waymo uses cameras, lidar (laser radar that builds a 3D representation astir the car) and accepted radar. It works successful full acheronian and dense rain. Tesla uses cameras only. Eight of them, nary lidar. Cheaper, which is however they connection rides astatine $1.99 per kilometer. 

Now, are they safe? 

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Tesla has reported 7 clang incidents to regulators since launching. Waymo says it has 80% less wounded crashes than quality drivers. But NHTSA has logged 1,429 Waymo incidents since 2021, 117 injuries, 2 fatalities. Three bundle recalls, including 1 past December for passing stopped schoolhouse buses. 

A person of excavation took a Waymo, and it dropped her disconnected a afloat mile from wherever she was going. No mode to alteration it. No quality to emblem down. Just a robot car that said, "You person arrived." 

She had not. So yeah. I’m curious. But I’m besides cautious.

A Tesla Inc. robotaxi connected Oltorf Street successful Austin, Texas, connected Sunday, June 22, 2025. The motorboat of Tesla Inc.'s driverless taxi work Sunday is acceptable to statesman modestly, with a fistful of vehicles successful constricted areas of the city.  (Tim Goessman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Here’s wherever it gets spicy

When a robotaxi gets confused, a quality successful a distant halfway sees done the car’s cameras and draws a way for it. At a Senate proceeding connected Wednesday, Feb. 4, Waymo admitted immoderate of those helpers are successful the Philippines. Senators were not amused. I wasn’t either.

Your car sits parked 95% of the time. Robotaxis tally 15+ hours a day. When a driverless thrust costs little than state and insurance, owning a car feels similar a gym rank you ne'er use.

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The aboriginal of driving is cipher driving. Steering america successful a full caller direction.

Know idiosyncratic who inactive thinks self-driving cars are subject fiction? Forward this. They’re successful for a ride.

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