Waymo is starting to offer its new Ojai robotaxis to some customers. Ojai robotaxis are designed to perform well in snowy conditions and are cheaper to manufacture than the company’s older vehicles.
Waymo said in a statement Thursday that the ride will be available to some regular passengers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix before the ride also opens in San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver this summer.
of the alphabet The self-driving sector already has 100 Ojai cars on the road as part of a fleet of about 4,000 vehicles. Ryan Powell, Waymo’s head of design, said in an interview with CNBC that the company expects to have thousands of Ojai cars on the road by the end of the year.
Waymo first unveiled the Ojai design in 2024. In February, the company launched ride-hailing services for employees and their guests in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
As Waymo expands its fleet to strengthen its lead in the U.S. tesla and Amazon’s Zoox aims to control costs. Ojai is the first vehicle to utilize the company’s proprietary drive system, the 6th generation Waymo Driver, which includes technology that can better detect important details in low-light conditions.
The vehicle, which integrates new hardware and software, is manufactured by China’s Geely Automobile and is significantly cheaper to produce than earlier Waymo vehicles made by Jaguar and others. Ojai’s robotaxis require no more expensive cameras or sensors than previous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles.
Waymo, which received a $16 billion cash infusion from parent company Alphabet and other backers in February, is offering fully autonomous robotaxis in several U.S. markets and plans to launch the service in London later this year. In total, the company has made more than 20 million self-driving trips to date and hopes to reach 1 million weekly trips by the end of the year, Powell said.
In new vehicles, Waymo uses its own custom chips. The company says its vehicles are equipped with improved lidar that can see heavy rain and snow conditions, and upgraded audio receivers that can better hear sirens and other noises.
The Ojai car is wider and also has a removable steering wheel. The door opens and closes automatically.
Ryan Powell, Waymo’s head of design, said in an interview with CNBC that Waymo plans to have thousands of Ojai cars on the road by the end of the year.
Powell said Waymo learned from its design team that “I-PACE’s familiar form factor and having the steering wheel and pedals there” helps people “get over the hump of trying something new.”
Asked whether Google’s Gemini technology would be integrated into cars, Powell said the company is exploring more “natural ways of interacting with cars” using AI technology. He gave the example of telling the car to move up a little further.
“I’m excited because some of the things we’re seeing on the Gemini side might make those things possible,” he said.
While Waymo has expanded rapidly, it has also dealt with some safety setbacks.
Earlier this month, Waymo announced a voluntary recall of about 3,800 robotaxis to fix a software issue that allows them to drive onto flooded roads after incidents were reported on social media. Waymo announced last week that it would temporarily suspend highway service after discovering performance issues around construction zones.
—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
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