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While Tesla has done its best to create a relentless hype cycle around its just-launched robotaxis, with a curated bunch of Tesla-supporting influencers receiving the first invites to test the service, and their ensuing flowery reports playing an important role in supporting Tesla's share price, the reality is much more nuanced, and lies somewhere in the middle of the sunny optimism emanating from the EV giant's quarters and the literal death knells that its opponents are sounding with an alarming frequency.
BMO Capital's AV Expert Remains Unimpressed With Robotaxis
Now, BMO Capital's Autonomous Vehicle (AV) expert has chimed in with a less-than-flattering view of the performance of Tesla's robotaxis over the past few days.
BMO Capital's AV Expert: 'Waymo Is Miles Ahead’
We hosted an autonomous vehicle (AV) expert who previously worked at Waymo and now collaborates with policymakers to advance the AV industry. Our expert suggested that the industry is in the early innings of its commercialization…
— Kaushik (@BigBullCap) June 26, 2025
To wit, BMO Capital has now disclosed in its latest note that it recently hosted an AV expert who had previously worked at Waymo and currently advises governments on advancing the AV industry.
While conceding that the industry was still in the "early innings" of the ongoing commercialization race, this expert boldly pronounced that Waymo was "miles ahead of the AV competition," ranking Chinese players - Baidu and Pony.ai - as distant seconds, followed by Amazon's Zoox and May Mobility. Critically, according to the AV expert, Tesla remained "significantly behind" Waymo in the rapidly heating AV commercialization race.
The expert then points out that a typical driver associated with a given ride-share service undertakes between 15 and 20 rides per day. This contrasts sharply with Waymo's current cadence of between 20 and 25 rides per day. To unlock the economies of scale, however, Waymo will have to scale to 50 rides per day per vehicle, according to this expert.
As a refresher, Waymo currently operates an autonomous ride-hailing service in 5 US cities via a fleet of around 1,500 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, with each such vehicle equipped with an expensive array of sensors, including LiDAR, 360-degree view cameras, and a radar, all feeding into onboard compute resources.
On the other hand, Tesla's robotaxis leverage an interconnected neural network along with cameras that are supposedly capable of counting individual photons, although some experts doubt that these cameras are capable of such a feat.
Coming back, BMO Capital's AV expert concedes that the expensive LiDAR sensors, which are critical for depth perception, currently remain "a key cost constraint to scaling AVs." The expert asserts that Tesla would be at a distinct advantage if its camera-based, vision-only AV solution were to ultimately prove as effective as Waymo's multiple sensors-based approach.
Tesla Robotaxis Off To A Rocky Start
After only 4 days, Tesla's robotaxi service in Austin has already logged one incident of "Safety Concern", giving it a rate of 0.25/day so far.
Waymo has 22 Safety Concern incidents since testing began 359 days ago (0.06/day) & 14 since service began in March (0.12/day).$TSLA pic.twitter.com/LryAHvLToX
— Motorhead (@BradMunchen) June 26, 2025
We noted in a previous post that the NHTSA has now reportedly contacted Tesla after various videos recently surfaced, showing robotaxis committing various traffic violations, which include failure to adhere to lane discipline as well as speed limit violations.
For context, do note that Waymo has logged fewer critical errors over its 10 million completed miles than Tesla has over the past few days, and that too, with a fleet of just 11 robotaxis operating in a geofenced area of Austin, replete with an employee stationed in the front passenger seat and supported by a dedicated team of teleoperators, who are mandated to take over in case of an emergency!
Of course, despite all the hype surrounding Tesla's FSD, it is still widely considered a Level 2 autonomous driving system, as opposed to Waymo's, which is classified as a Level 4 system.
Benchmark Goes Uber-Bullish On Tesla
Not everything is doom and gloom around Tesla, however. For one, the brokerage firm Benchmark has just hiked its target for Tesla shares from $350 to $475, citing the EV giant's demonstration of a "controlled and safety-first approach" to its robotaxis, which can speed up the regulatory approval process.
Benchmark goes on to note:
"We are a believer in TSLA’s camera-focused approach that is not only cost effective but also scalable."
Do note that Tesla has given up the entirety of this week's gains, and is currently trading flat on a 5-day basis. Over the past month, the stock is down around 10 percent.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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