Waymo launches more affordable Ojai robotaxi manufactured by China's Geely.

      Waymo has launched its sixth-generation Ojai robotaxi for select riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Manufactured by Geely’s Zeekr in China, the Ojai features a 42% reduction in sensor count and costs approximately $75,000 less per unit than the previous Jaguar I-PACE.

      The Ojai, designed specifically for autonomous ride-hailing rather than being modified from a standard car, is powered by Waymo’s sixth-generation Driver system and built on a platform by Zeekr, the electric vehicle division of China's Geely, which also owns Volvo. Initially, rides are offered in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, with expansion planned for San Diego, Las Vegas, and Denver this summer.

      Replacing the Jaguar I-PACE that had been Waymo’s main robotaxi since 2020, the Ojai is a more spacious, boxier vehicle with lower step-in heights, increased headroom, and a detachable steering wheel. The interior is tailored for passenger use, indicating that no one is meant to drive.

      The most notable advancement is its cost-effectiveness. The Ojai is equipped with 13 cameras, four lidar units, and six radar sensors, a 42% decrease from the 29 cameras on the previous I-PACE fleet. Waymo has upgraded the sensors' quality to compensate for the reduced number, incorporating a new 17-megapixel imager to enhance image clarity and thermal stability and offering a comprehensive 360-degree field of view capable of detecting objects up to 500 meters away at night.

      The upgraded lidar can operate effectively in heavy rain and snow, and enhanced audio receivers improve sound detection for sirens and other noises, addressing issues that previously caused service interruptions in various cities. Recently, Waymo paused operations in five US cities after a software update failed to prevent vehicles from driving into standing water.

      Morgan Stanley estimates the Ojai's cost at around $125,000 per unit compared to roughly $200,000 for the I-PACE. The base model manufactured by Zeekr is estimated to cost about $38,000, versus $75,000 for the Jaguar, while the sixth-generation Driver hardware is projected to cost under $20,000 per unit, marking a more than 50% saving compared to its predecessor. Waymo aims to have thousands of Ojai vehicles on the road by year’s end.

      The reliance on Chinese manufacturing has raised political concerns. Zeekr constructs the base vehicles in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, before shipping them to Mesa, Arizona, where Waymo installs its autonomous driving technology. This method exposes the imports to a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles; however, since Waymo imports semi-finished bodies rather than complete consumer vehicles, the tariff applies to a lower base value of approximately $10,000 to $20,000 per unit, keeping costs manageable.

      A US senator has expressed concerns about this arrangement, and federal regulations restricting Chinese-connected vehicle software are tightening. The wider autonomous vehicle industry is closely monitoring the situation to see if geopolitical tensions will push Waymo to seek a domestic manufacturing partner or if the tariff conditions will remain favorable enough to maintain the existing supply chain from China.

      Waymo currently provides over 500,000 paid rides weekly across 10 US metropolitan areas, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando. The company's goal is to reach one million rides per week by the end of 2026 and to prepare for operations in over 20 additional cities, including international locations like Tokyo and London.

      This expansion is supported by a $16 billion funding round concluded in February 2026, which values the company at $110 billion, significantly up from $45 billion just 15 months prior. Alphabet contributed approximately $13 billion of this total, with external investors like Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer, and DST Global participating. Waymo is estimated to generate $350 million in annual recurring revenue and operates at Level 4 autonomy, meaning the vehicle manages all driving activities under specified conditions without human intervention.

      Although Waymo leads in commercial robotaxi operations, it faces competition. Tesla has introduced a limited robotaxi service in Austin, using cameras exclusively without lidar, a method criticized by other autonomous vehicle developers as less safe. Amazon’s Zoox operates about 50 robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas and plans to launch on the Uber app in Las Vegas this summer. Cruise, once a significant competitor to Waymo, halted its operations in 2023 following a pedestrian incident and has been slow to resume.

      In China, Baidu’s Apollo platform runs commercial robotaxi services in several cities. Meanwhile, Europe remains largely devoid of robotaxi services, but Waymo's anticipated expansion to London would represent the first major entry by a US operator in that market.

      The Ojai represents Waymo’s solution to the critical issue of profitable scaling in autonomous ride-hailing,