Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...By Ed Ludlow, Bloomberg Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo unit will deploy a new autonomous vehicle designed specifically for robotaxi use, offering public rides in California and Arizona without human supervision.
Dubbed the Ojai, the self-driving vehicle will initially be made available to select riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, Waymo said Thursday in a blog post. The four-seat minivan is being built with Zeekr, an arm of China-based automaker Geely Automobile Holdings, through a partnership the companies announced in 2021.
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Waymo is the leader in offering ridehailing services using autonomous vehicles without a human driver in the US, though Tesla Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Zoox are beginning to make inroads. Waymo is charging fares for rides in cities including San Francisco, Phoenix and Atlanta and testing in others.
The new vehicle marks an evolution of Waymo’s recent fleet strategy utilizing retrofitted consumer models. A more purpose-built vehicle improves the economics for the company, while also enhancing the customer experience, Waymo says. The vehicle features a roomier cabin than a traditional car and accessibility features such as a flat floor and low step-in height. It will also debut the latest generation of Waymo’s autonomous driving system, the company said.
Initial Ojai rides will be free of charge to gather feedback from users before adding more cities over time.
Building the vehicle jointly with Geely’s Zeekr unit highlights how Western companies are increasingly looking to partner with Chinese automakers despite US policies that have largely shut those companies out of the American market. The US Commerce Department has imposed a ban on connected vehicles and related technologies linked to China.
The shuttle-like Ojai vehicle is designed in Sweden and built on an electric “skateboard platform” that’s imported to the US from China without any self-driving or connectivity technology.
Waymo then integrates its autonomous driving system during final assembly at its factory in Mesa, Arizona, alongside Magna International Inc. The company said it’s working to increase production at the plant to tens of thousands of vehicles per year.
Waymo is introducing the new vehicle in markets where weather is more favorable and traffic conditions are well tested. The company recently suspended service in multiple US cities after some of its vehicles drove into flooded roads.
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