Overview
- Waymo began offering the Ojai to all riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, a move first reported on Wednesday that expands public access to the next-generation robotaxi.
- A company spokesperson said about 300 Ojais are already in commercial service and Waymo is rapidly importing and outfitting many more vehicles for U.S. deployment.
- The Ojai is built by Zeekr in China and shipped to Waymo’s Arizona facility for installation of the self-driving hardware and software, a process that adds time and exposes the cars to U.S. import tariffs.
- The vehicle pairs Waymo’s sixth-generation driving system with Google’s Gemini assistant, uses fewer external sensors but higher-resolution sensing, offers elevator-style doors and flat floors for wheelchair access, and is designed for harsh weather including snow.
- Recent CPUC approval to extend California coverage toward Sea Ranch and Folsom and planned rollouts to Denver, Las Vegas and San Diego later this year position Waymo to scale quickly and heighten competition with operators such as Zoox and Uber.