55% of Americans Would Ride in a Tesla Robotaxi

Last Updated on: 16th January 2025, 12:21 pm

I just wrote about interesting new research finding that 25% of Americans are completely avoiding Tesla products because of Elon Musk. It’s a big deal, whether many Tesla fans want to acknowledge it or not. In theory, that’s 1.5 million sales rather than 2 million. But that’s not what most of the research from JW Surety Bonds was about. A large portion of it was around Tesla robotaxis, assuming they will one day work well enough to autonomously shuttle customers around.

Tesla Robotaxis — How Much Potential Do They Have?

On the positive side for Tesla, the research found that 1 out of 2 Americans would be happy to ride in a Tesla robotaxi (there are no Tesla robotaxis on the road yet, of course, but they are expected to start running to a limited degree on a trial basis in certain markets in 2025).

Also, a quarter of American respondents indicated they’d rather ride in a self-driving robotaxi than a conventional human-driven “rideshare” vehicle (e.g., from Lyft or Uber).

Also, almost 1 in 5 are open to selling their cars and relying on robotaxis once they are widely available! Among Gen Z respondents, the result was 1 out of 4.

These are some strongly positive results to my eyes — and even more so if you consider 25% of respondents were answering “hell no!” due to Elon Musk’s involvement.

However, as the chart below shows, the research indicates that 55% of Americans would ride in a Tesla robotaxi.

“Generations showed different levels of interest, with 71% of Gen Z respondents expressing excitement about using a Robotaxi — the highest among all groups. Baby boomers were the least enthusiastic, with just 36% showing interest. They were also the most likely to avoid Tesla’s technology entirely due to their opinions about Elon Musk.”

Shockingly to me, JW Surety Bonds writes that 1 in 10 Americans have already ridden in a non-Tesla self-driving car or taxi. That seems high to me, but I don’t have any data to refute it.

Overall, the opportunity for robotaxi business seems big if the technology is there — “trust in Tesla Robotaxis appears strong overall. Tesla ranked as the most trusted autonomous taxi provider when compared to other companies like Ford, Amazon, and General Motors. Another 38% of respondents also said they would feel safer in a Robotaxi at night compared to a traditional human-driven taxi, Uber, or Lyft. However, some were skeptical about its safety, as 42% of Americans said they would not allow their family members to ride in a Robotaxi.” For early adoption and breaking into the mass market, if we’re being honest, that 42% doesn’t matter.

What Do Gig Economy Workers Think?

First of all, according to the research, 51% of gig economy workers think robotaxis could impact their job security fairly soon. 8% think it could happen within the next year, while 43% think it could happen within the next 2–3 years. On the flip side, 22% don’t believe the hype — don’t think robotaxis are going to threaten their job security even in the next 5 years.

Interesting enough, a large portion of gig economy workers actually think robotaxis will create new opportunities for them!

“About a quarter of gig workers (24%) viewed the future of the gig economy positively, anticipating that Robotaxis might create different job opportunities. Over 3 in 5 gig workers were open to reskilling or pursuing training for a new role if automation reduced ride-share opportunities.” Interesting….

Well, robotaxis have to work without humans on a large scale before any of this is more than theory. Let’s see what comes our way.