Waymo dominates autonomous vehicle registrations as Tesla trails behind

Waymo has nearly 600 autonomous vehicles registered in Texas, a figure that far outpaces emerging competitors Avride, Nuro, Tesla, and Zoox, according to data available in a new website launched by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. The automated vehicle tracker tool — part of a new law that requires AV companies to register with the DMV — gives the public the first accurate and easy-to-access accounting of how many autonomous vehicles are in Texas. The state law, which went into effect May 28, requires companies testing or deploying AVs in the state to share how many vehicles are in their fleets as well as other safety information. It also shows just how wide the gap is between Waymo and rival Tesla — two companies offering commercial robotaxi services. Alphabet-owned Waymo has registered 577 autonomous vehicles in Texas, followed by Avride with 317, and Nuro with 47. Tesla, which launched a robotaxi service in Austin last summer and has since said it has expanded to Dallas and Houston, has registered 42 autonomous vehicles. Other companies with registered autonomous vehicles in the state include Volkswagen subsidiary MOIA , which has a fleet of 12 electric, autonomous microbuses. The size of an autonomous vehicle-fleet only reveals so much about where a company stands on the leaderboard. Many of these companies — Nuro and Zoox, for instance — are not operating commercially. Nor do these numbers track how many vehicles are actively being used. …