Waymo Outpaces Tesla in Texas Robotaxi Race, New State DMV Data Reveals
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Transparency Through Legislation
For years, the scale of autonomous vehicle (AV) deployments in the United States has been a matter of corporate guesswork and carefully curated press releases. However, a new transparency mandate in Texas is stripping away the curtain. Following a law that took effect on May 28, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has launched a public tracker requiring AV companies to officially register their fleets and share safety data.
The resulting data provides a stark snapshot of the current landscape: Alphabet-owned Waymo is not just leading the race in the Lone Star State—it is operating on a different scale entirely. According to the DMV records, Waymo has registered 577 autonomous vehicles in Texas, cementing its position as the dominant player in the region’s push toward driverless mobility.
The Gap Between Waymo and Tesla
The most striking revelation from the Texas DMV tool is the disparity between Waymo and Tesla. While Elon Musk has frequently touted the potential of Tesla’s FSD (Full Self-Driving) and a forthcoming dedicated robotaxi, the actual footprint on the ground in Texas tells a different story. Despite launching a robotaxi service in Austin last summer and claiming expansions into Dallas and Houston, Tesla has registered only 42 autonomous vehicles.
This gap highlights a fundamental difference in strategy. Waymo relies on a curated fleet of vehicles equipped with expensive, high-fidelity lidar and radar suites, whereas Tesla has bet its future on a vision-only approach. The DMV data suggests that Waymo is more aggressive in deploying a physical, dedicated fleet to secure market share in Texas’s major urban hubs.
Comparative Fleet Registrations
| Company | Registered AVs (Texas) |
|---|---|
| Waymo | 577 |
| Avride | 317 |
| Nuro | 47 |
| Tesla | 42 |
| MOIA | 12 |
Other players are also emerging in the data. Avride follows Waymo with 317 vehicles, while Nuro maintains 47. Even Volkswagen’s MOIA subsidiary has a presence with 12 electric autonomous microbuses, though these are far smaller in scale than the primary robotaxi contenders.
Beyond the Passenger Cabin
The Texas DMV’s data extends beyond the commute. The state’s logistics corridor is becoming a proving ground for autonomous freight, with several companies making significant inroads. Aurora, which shifted into commercial driverless trucking in May 2025, currently leads the heavy-duty segment with 91 registered self-driving trucks.
Aurora’s lead is bolstered by a growing ecosystem of partners, but it faces competition from Gatik AI, which specializes in mid-sized delivery trucks and has 64 vehicles registered. Other long-haul contenders like Kodiak AI and Waabi trail further behind, with 33 and 13 registered trucks respectively. This suggests that the “middle mile” of logistics may be scaling faster than the complex, chaotic environment of urban passenger ride-hailing.
Contextualizing the Numbers
It is important to note that registration numbers do not always equate to active service. A vehicle registered with the DMV may be in a garage for software updates, used for internal mapping, or sidelined for safety reasons. For instance, Waymo recently paused operations in certain Texas cities due to operational challenges surrounding flood-prone areas, proving that even a massive fleet is subject to the whims of environmental variables.
Furthermore, companies like Nuro and Zoox are not yet operating full-scale commercial services in the same manner as Waymo. Their registration numbers reflect testing and validation phases rather than an active revenue-generating fleet. However, as Texas continues to lean into AV-friendly legislation, these numbers will likely serve as the primary barometer for who is actually winning the autonomous war and who is simply talking about it.
