Waymo is at a disadvantage compared to Tesla in terms of hardware costs. Tesla's autonomous vehicles use lower-cost cameras to map roads. Currently, only a few cities are open to online ride-hailing riders, and are equipped with human drivers to monitor. Morgan Stanley analysts estimated in this month's report that Waymo currently costs around $1.43 per mile to operate, compared to just $0.81 for Tesla. Whether this gap will translate into Tesla's long-term advantage remains to be seen. According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, the operating costs of Waymo's new vehicles, which it plans to deploy in 2026, could drop to $0.99 to $1.08 per mile. This is partly because Waymo is testing lower-cost basic vehicles from Hyundai and Krypton cars rather than the high-end Jaguar I-Pace models currently used by most public mobility services. Furthermore, if the safety record of autonomous taxis continues to improve, insurance costs may also drop.

Waymo is at a disadvantage compared to Tesla in terms of hardware costs. Tesla's autonomous vehicles use lower-cost cameras to map roads. Currently, only a few cities are open to online ride-hailing riders, and are equipped with human drivers to monitor. Morgan Stanley analysts estimated in this month's report that Waymo currently costs around $1.43 per mile to operate, compared to just $0.81 for Tesla. Whether this gap will translate into Tesla's long-term advantage remains to be seen. According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, the operating costs of Waymo's new vehicles, which it plans to deploy in 2026, could drop to $0.99 to $1.08 per mile. This is partly because Waymo is testing lower-cost basic vehicles from Hyundai and Krypton cars rather than the high-end Jaguar I-Pace models currently used by most public mobility services. Furthermore, if the safety record of autonomous taxis continues to improve, insurance costs may also drop.