Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not one to mince words — but while his ability to make electric vehicles mainstream is undoubtedly a modern success story, his recent claim about Tesla's superiority to rival Waymo is raising eyebrows and may further damage consumer confidence.
What's happening?
Waymo recently released safety data from millions of rider-only miles without a human driver in its autonomous EVs. The results drew the attention of Google DeepMind Chief Scientist Jeff Dean (@JeffDean), who wrote on the social platform X that the data was "quite compelling" and observed that Tesla's robotaxi service has tracked nowhere near the number of miles.
In fact, while Waymo had completed 127 million miles without a human driver through September 2025, Tesla merely planned to remove monitors from its robotaxis by the end of the year — and that goal has hit more than a few snags as safety concerns continue to arise.
On the other hand, Waymo drastically reduced overall crashes and crashes involving injuries to vulnerable road users compared to the average human driver over the same distance, per its data. Perhaps most encouragingly, pedestrian-related crashes dropped a whopping 92%.
Not shy about sharing his thoughts, Musk responded to Dean's Waymo post with an unusual take: "Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight."
Why is this important?
This year, Tesla's grip on the EV market continued to weaken, as more affordable EV models that appeal to consumers' sensibilities have become increasingly available. While this is positive news for those interested in making their next car an EV, it has eaten into Tesla's profits.
Meanwhile, Musk polarized his loyal base and potential buyers with his politics and social media feuds. Sales slumped, stocks fluctuated, and Musk's Master Plan to turn Tesla into an AI and robotics powerhouse seemed to stall — and maybe become another one of his pipe dreams.
Tesla's history of broken promises, combined with yet another shocking statement from Musk, may further tarnish the brand's reputation. Considering Tesla's continued (albeit diminished) dominance in the EV realm, that could ultimately set back progress toward adopting cleaner modes of transportation and reduce access to affordable EVs and EV rideshares.
What's being done about this?
Musk clearly knows the value of drumming up hype.
Case in point: Not long after Musk said Tesla was testing autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, without a safety monitor, Tesla shares hit an all-time high on Dec. 16, according to CNBC.
TCD Picks » Upway Spotlight
💡Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands
|
Do you trust self-driving cars as much as you trust human drivers? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
No way 👎 While his statement about Waymo was outlandish, he may be aware that it is simply aspirational. However, Electrek's Fred Lambert didn't hesitate to bluntly call out Musk.
"He thinks Tesla is leading the race because he can see Waymo in his rear-view mirror. What he doesn't realize is that he isn't ahead; he's actually being lapped," Lambert wrote in a Dec. 10 article.
"If Tesla removes the safety drivers from its fleet in three weeks, as Musk claims, which is a big if, it will officially be about 5 years behind Waymo and will still need to prove safety without a supervisor and then scale," he added.
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices — and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD's exclusive Rewards Club.
Cool Picks
