We now know how much you’ll be charged if you vomit in a Tesla robotaxi

They’ve barely hit the streets of Austin this summer (and still aren’t free of human staff), but there’s apparently been enough activity in Tesla Robotaxis that reports exist about the cost of the damage done inside, from vomit to spilled coffee to vape stench. While the fees may not seem too strict at first glance, these policies are vague enough that you may want to reconsider bringing anything that might spill into one of these vehicles.

According to Inside electric vehicles And @sawyermerrit on XTesla can charge a passenger $150 for what Merritt said the company considers “serious damage, such as biowaste or smoke in the vehicle,” which is currently only available in certain parts of Austin. Less serious offenses like “food spills, heavy dirt and minor stains” carry a $50 fine.

These fees are not listed on Tesla’s page regarding Robotaxi Driver Rules other than having to pay “additional fees” at “Tesla’s discretion.” Merritt, however, says Tesla will assess any additional cleaning required after a passenger’s trip and then add whatever fees it deems appropriate through the user’s app.

Charged users can dispute their charges by calling a customer support number.

In terms of fairness, the closest comparison is Waymo, a service that has many more vehicles on the road, all of which can operate without humans on board, potentially meaning more of a sense of privacy and a resulting lax attitude toward cleanliness. Waymo fee $50 if the cyclist remembers to “report his own damage during his journey”. However, an unreported incident at a Waymo can result in a fine of up to $100 from the company for the first offense and, “up to the cost of the cleanup and your account status may also be affected,” for a second offense.

And Waymo places smoking or vaping in a separate offense category. Waymo imposes a $100 fine for the first offense and, like Tesla, reserves the right to charge for cleaning and question your account reputation for subsequent smoking-related offenses. For better or worse for drivers, however, other than smoking, Waymo doesn’t analyze the concept of “disorder” into categories as much as Tesla does.

Uber, which launched a autonomous taxi limited and supervised by humans in Dallas in anticipation of an autonomous version planned for 2026, also does not explicitly specify the terms of its fines for damage to the Robotaxi in its code of conduct or payment terms. The Uber information page for runners of the non-self-driving service simply states that on all journeys, “passengers are responsible for damage to the interior or exterior of a vehicle caused by incidents such as vomiting or food spills,” with the costs being returned in full to the driver.

Zooxfor its part, is very new, operating in Las Vegas with a waiting list forming in San Francisco. For now, he does not specify how much it can charge a user, but it can charge you not only if you or your group left a mess, but also if another passenger reports a previous mess and you didn’t do it. The company says it “may determine, in our sole discretion, that you or your guests caused the damage.”

If you choose to travel with a rental car, these fees are still better than the $400 fine for smoking at Hertz and tied with the $150 fine Education required for liquid spills or pet hair, for example.

All of these cost comparisons are important because these so-called robotaxis that gain momentum in 2026 will continue to be presented by their respective operators as autonomous, even though they require varying levels of human intervention, sometimes including pay workers to close stuck doors. And that of Tesla vision of self-cleaning car interiors of a 2023 patent still exists primarily on paper.

That still leaves humans to deal with you, your pet, or your drunk friend.