Musk Declares the Robotaxi Race “Never a Real Contest” — But Waymo Still Leads 7-to-1 Nationally

Tesla’s Robotaxi logged 438,000 driverless miles in Austin in the week ending October 18, 2026, edging past Waymo’s roughly 406,000 weekly miles averaged in the same city during the second quarter of 2026, Electrek reported October 27. Elon Musk seized on the comparison, saying the race against Waymo “was never a real contest.” The Austin milestone is genuine — and it is also the narrowest frame available.

Nationally, the gap runs the other way and is wide: Waymo averaged 3.90 million rider-only miles per week across its markets in Q2 2026, while Tesla’s best reported week across all markets reached 558,000 miles — about 7 to 1 in Waymo’s favor. Tesla has now expanded its service to six American cities, and its cumulative driverless total since January 2026 stands at about 3.11 million miles, against Waymo’s 271.3 million cumulative miles since 2020. Austin still carries most of Tesla’s load, though its Houston expansion has added about 225,964 miles in the comparison cited.

Investors are noticing the framing problem. The Future Fund’s Gary Black warned October 28 against assuming uncontested Tesla robotaxi dominance, citing rising competition from Waymo and Baidu and Tesla’s high 2026 price-to-earnings ratio of about 220x, with BYD having already overtaken Tesla in global EV sales in 2025. The honest read: Tesla won a city-week; Waymo still owns the national network. Both facts can be true at once.