Recently released official data from Texas has revealed a significant gap in the robotaxi race, showing Waymo's fleet is far larger than Tesla's in the state.
This all comes down to a new Texas regulation, Chapter 220, which just became enforceable on May 28. For the first time, all autonomous vehicle operators must register their fleets with the DMV. This new transparency allows for a true apples-to-apples comparison of who is actually operating at scale.
The numbers are quite stark. The data shows Waymo has 577 vehicles on Texas roads, while Tesla has just 42. This means Waymo controls over 93% of their combined fleet, a nearly 14-fold advantage. This scale reflects Waymo's more established presence across the "Texas Triangle"—Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. In contrast, Tesla only recently expanded beyond its initial Austin launch into parts of Dallas and Houston.
Of course, this gap didn't appear overnight. First, Waymo has been operating commercially at scale in Texas for longer, launching publicly in multiple cities back in February 2026. Second, Tesla's journey began with a small, invite-only launch in Austin in mid-2025 and has grown steadily, but from a much smaller base. Both companies have also faced hurdles; Waymo recently paused services due to flooding, and Tesla has reported minor crashes involving its teleoperators, both of which attract regulatory attention and can influence their expansion pace.
What's fascinating is how this operational reality contrasts with market valuations. Tesla's stock trades at a very high P/E ratio of around 244, which suggests investors have already priced in massive future success for its robotaxi network. Waymo, on the other hand, is part of Alphabet's "Other Bets" division, meaning its current dominance has a much smaller impact on Google's overall valuation. The market is betting on Tesla's future promise, not its current, much smaller, operational footprint.
- Robotaxi: A self-driving, autonomous vehicle that operates as a taxi or ride-hailing service without a human driver.
- ODD (Operational Design Domain): The specific conditions (e.g., geographic area, weather, time of day) under which an autonomous vehicle is designed to operate safely.
- P/E Ratio (Price-to-Earnings Ratio): A valuation metric that measures a company's current share price relative to its per-share earnings. A high P/E can indicate that investors expect higher future earnings growth.