Waymo said it recently took delivery of the final batch of Jaguar I-Pace SUVs, which will be retrofitted with sensors and self-driving technology at its factory in Arizona before joining its fleet of self-driving taxis.
Alphabet said in a blog post today that it currently operates 1,500 Jaguar vehicles in four major markets: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin. The company plans to add another 2,000 vehicles in 2026, bringing the total Jaguar fleet size to 3,500 vehicles. The company recently averaged 250,000 paid passengers per week.
Waymo is typically reluctant to disclose the size of its fleet, so today's announcement provides a rare look at the number of self-driving taxis the company currently operates. Waymo plans to expand while eyeing the launch of self-driving taxi services in Atlanta, Miami and Washington, D.C., in 2026.
The Jaguar I-Pace has been Waymo's workhorse vehicle since it phased out the Chrysler Pacifica minivan in 2023. The company had expected to have 20,000 I-Paces in operation as self-driving taxis, but it currently appears to be far from that goal. Waymo is also currently testing and validating two new vehicles: the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the all-electric Zeekr RT minivan, but has not yet revealed when they will join the Waymo fleet.
Waymo assembles its self-driving taxis at a 239,000-square-foot facility in Mesa, Arizona, with help from automotive engineering firm Magna International. The company's last Jaguar I-Paces will be assembled here, and Waymo's production capacity is expected to be maintained until next year. In addition, Waymo will develop the sixth-generation "Waymo Driver" starting in 2026, which will be installed on the JiKrypton RT model.Very kryptonianIt is a subsidiary of Geely Automobile, one of China's largest automakers.
New self-driving taxis are being designed in Sweden (where Geely owns Swedish carmaker Volvo), with prototypes derived fromVery kryptonianof all-electric five-door sedans. Waymo will then import the vehicles to Arizona, where they will be installed with the hardware and software needed for self-driving. The first test vehicles arrived in the United States last year.
To accommodate multiple vehicle platforms, Waymo said its Mesa facility will gradually add automated assembly lines and "other efficiency improvements." When the factory is at full capacity, the company expects to be able to produce "tens of thousands" of self-driving taxis per year. Waymo has added new processes at the end of the assembly line for passenger verification and commissioning to ensure each vehicle is ready for operation as soon as it leaves the factory. According to Waymo spokesman Chris Bonelli, each vehicle is capable of driving itself out of the factory and ready to pick up passengers within 30 minutes.
Waymo's intention to publicize its plans to expand its fleet comes as Tesla plans to launch its own self-driving taxi service in Texas and California later this year. Additionally, the Alphabet unit recently announced a partnership with Toyota to explore the possibility of selling self-driving cars to customers for personal ownership.