Consider Waymo Better Technical Approach and Safety
Waymo uses a multi-sensor suite: 29 cameras, 5 LiDAR sensors, and 6 radars, providing a highly detailed, redundant, and robust perception of its environment. This redundancy allows Waymo to perform reliably even in challenging conditions like poor visibility or complex urban environments.
Tesla relies on cameras only: Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) uses 8–9 cameras and neural networks, without LiDAR or radar in production vehicles. This vision-only approach is more vulnerable to issues like glare, darkness, or camera obstruction, and lacks the redundancy of multiple sensor types.
Autonomy Level Waymo operates at SAE Level 4 autonomy: Its robotaxis can drive without human intervention in mapped and geofenced areas, meaning no safety driver is needed in these zones.
Tesla’s FSD is Level 2: The system can control steering and speed but always requires a human driver to supervise and intervene when needed.
Real-World Performance Waymo’s safety record and autonomy are strong: In direct head-to-head tests, Waymo performed more reliably and safely. For example, in a recent San Francisco test, Tesla’s FSD made a significant error while Waymo completed the route without issue, “handing Waymo the clear win”.
Waymo has provided millions of driverless rides: Its vehicles have driven over 56 million miles without a human driver, and it currently provides over 250,000 rides per week in multiple cities. Tesla has not released comparable driverless statistics, as its system still requires human supervision.
Deployment and Business Model Waymo’s service is already fully driverless in several cities: Including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, with ongoing expansion.
Tesla’s robotaxi service is just launching: As of mid-2025, Tesla is beginning public robotaxi trials in Austin, but its system is not yet fully autonomous.
Summary Table: Key Differences Feature Waymo Tesla FSD Sensor Suite Cameras, LiDAR, radar Cameras only Autonomy Level Level 4 (driverless in zones) Level 2 (supervised only) Real-World Driverless Yes, millions of miles No, always needs supervision Geographic Coverage Multiple US cities, expanding Just launching public trials Safety/Redundancy High (multi-sensor) Lower (vision only)
Conclusion
Waymo is widely considered better than Tesla for autonomous driving in 2025 because it delivers higher autonomy (Level 4 vs. Level 2), greater safety through sensor redundancy, and a proven track record of millions of fully driverless miles in real-world city environments. Tesla’s approach is more scalable and cost-effective, but it has not yet matched Waymo’s level of autonomy or reliability.
