Robotaxi

Robotaxi network Waymo is continuing to expand the reach and capabilities of its driverless vehicles to public riders in new cities. Today, the Alphabet, Inc. subsidiary announced freeway trips in three major US cities, as well as an expansion of its service availability in a familiar region.

Three months after Uber, Lucid Motors, and Nuro announced a partnership that would enable Gravity SUV robotaxis, the rideshare network has shared where the public will first be able to hail one. Spoiler alert, it’s easy to guess if you give it half a thought.

Fully autonomous technology developer Waymo continues to expand the reach of its test fleet as well as bona fide customer rides without a driver present. This morning, Waymo shared plans to expand across the pond to London, with public robotaxi rides expected sooner than you might think.

Bespoke robotaxi developer Zoox has just confirmed Washington, DC, as the eighth US city where it is deploying its fleet of test vehicles, with the prospect of integrating full-fledged paid rides to customers in the future.

Fully autonomous technology developer Waymo announced a new partnership with rideshare network Lyft to offer driverless robotaxi rides to customers in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bespoke robotaxi developer Zoox officially launched driverless rides around the Las Vegas Strip today. The milestone follows months of testing in the area, and the initial rides are free for the general public.

Lucid Gravity Robotaxis? Yes, please! Uber Technologies, Lucid Group, and Nuro, Inc. announced an exciting new partnership this morning. The three will combine technologies to deliver the public a premium global robotaxi option on Uber’s platform. We should see the Lucid robotaxis roll out in their first major city next year.

Robotaxi developer Zoox has cut the ribbon on the first serial production facility for purpose-built robotaxi vehicles in the United States. This new cutting-edge facility will be able to assemble thousands of Zoox’s unique autonomous vehicles each year as its commercial services expand.

Waymo is once again expanding its driverless taxi service areas in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, adding over 80 square miles total between the three areas.

The move comes less than a week before the tentative, much-anticipated launch of Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin, another market that Waymo operates in.

Veteran robotaxi developer Zoox has announced an expansion of its testing fleet to a seventh US market. This latest addition marks Zoox’s (potential) entry into the southeastern United States as its team begins to map out the area ahead of bona fide autonomous robotaxi rides.

Shortly after announcing a strategic partnership with May Mobility to offer robotaxi rides to customers in the US, Uber has secured a second driverless tech company amid plans to scale the technology to new regions. Following a new partnership with Momenta, Uber will also expand robotaxi rides to Europe.

Zoox is saying, “LiDAR, camera, action!” The autonomous robotaxi developer announced an expansion into Los Angeles, marking Zoox’s sixth testing location. The initial rollout around Hollywood will be small to begin as Zoox remains “thoughtful and measured” in its rollout approach.

Starting today, the fully autonomous Waymo One ride service is available exclusively to customers in Austin, Texas through the Uber app. Today’s news builds upon Waymo’s existing partnership with Uber and is a milestone in the robotaxi startup’s expansion to new cities around the US.

There are still many questions surrounding the plausibility of full-fledged autonomous robotaxi operations around the world, but Waymo, one of the current leaders in the segment, is putting at least one stigma to rest. A new study conducted with the help of reinsurance provider Swiss Re used hundreds of thousands of liability claims to demonstrate that robotaxi vehicles using the Waymo Driver platform deliver significantly higher safety performance than vehicles operated by a human driver.

Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit Waymo is going overseas for the first time and testing its tech in Japan. In early 2025, the company will begin testing its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles in Tokyo, with plans to stay in the region for the foreseeable future.

Tonight on Quick Charge, we wonder if the upcoming Tesla Cybercab could actually benefit from growing a few pedals. Meanwhile, Tesla Supercharger customers are getting a better deal this week, and there’s a new, $2 billion solar project coming on line in southern California.

As promised, robotaxi developer Waymo is expanding its Waymo One service to new US cities. The latest on its service map is Miami, which will see a start of robotaxi testing operations next year before Waymo opens up public rides to all customers. ¡Hasta pronto, Miami!

Tesla has started offering lease buyouts on all its vehicles, allowing customers who lease a Tesla to purchase their vehicle at the end of the lease term. But this represents a pullback from its previous autonomous vehicle ambitions.

Apollo Go, tech company Baidu’s autonomous robotaxi service, will reportedly expand its services to Hong Kong before the end of 2024. Hong Kong marks the next city in mainland China where Baidu’s robotaxis may be operational as the company continues to grow as the leader in autonomous public rides in the country.

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Hyundai doesn’t care if incoming President Trump kills the $7,500 Federal EV tax credit, California’s planning to offer an EV tax credit of their own, and there’s a massive new solar project in Texas prairie land.

Waymo has opened up its driverless taxi service to everyone in Los Angeles, without need for an invite code or waitlist, but it still remains with the same service area it had before and doesn’t yet cover the whole area around LA.