Tesla will charge you $150 for puking or smoking in its robotaxis, report says

Visiting Austin, Texas and planning to hop into a Tesla robotaxi after a night at the bar? Just don’t barf inside the autonomous vehicle or that ride may cost you an extra $150.

According to a report from longtime Tesla influencer Sawyer Merritt, Tesla has rolled out a new cleaning fee system for its robotaxi service, which is currently only available in Austin. Basically, if you make a mess in a robotaxi, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny.

Merritt reports that Tesla now has two tiers of potential fees for cleaning up a Tesla after a ride. If a rider makes a “moderate mess,” which is described as “food spills, significant dirt and minor stains” then they will be charged an extra $50 for their ride.

However, if a rider makes a “severe mess,” which is described as “biowaste or smoking in the vehicle,” then that charge is bumped up to an extra $150 for the ride.

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“We prioritize maintaining a clean and comfortable environment for all riders and promoting responsible rider behavior,” Tesla said in a statement to Merritt. “To address incidents where vehicles require additional cleaning after a trip, we will assess the type and severity of the mess and apply the appropriate fee. Once a fee is assessed, you’ll receive an email notifying you that additional cleaning was required for the vehicle after your trip. An updated ride receipt will also be available under the Ride History section of the Robotaxi app. If you believe a charge was made in error, call the Customer Support team and follow the prompts for option 7.”

While fee specifics have not yet been posted by Tesla on their Robotaxi Rider Rules page, it does say that dirtying a vehicle will result in an “additional fee” at “Tesla’s discretion.”

Gizmodo compared Tesla’s robotaxi cleaning fees with other car sharing and car rental services. Waymo, the most comparable autonomous car service to Tesla’s, charges $50 for a cleaning if the rider self-reports the mess to the company. If they don’t report it, Waymo charges $100 for the first incident and then “up to the cost of cleaning” if there are future cases. Recurring incidents can also affect a user’s account with Waymo. The largest fine Gizmodo found was a $400 fee for smoking inside a Hertz vehicle.

Tesla’s robotaxi service, although promoted as an autonomous experience, actually very much requires human intervention. Texas requires that Tesla provide a human safety monitor be present inside the robotaxi for certain types of trips. And, while we’re on the topic of cleaning fees, you can guarantee that a human is going to have to scrub that vomit out of the robotaxi seat.