Waymo Robotaxis Are Heading To Tokyo For Their First Overseas Road Tests

Waymo, a leader in the U.S. robotaxi company and a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., is close to finalizing plans for expansions to other countries. Its first overseas road tests in Tokyo are expected to take place early next year, an important step on the road to further international growth by the company. Those will be tests involving a flotilla of electric Jaguars, and I-Pace SUVs, especially designed to map and to learn how to drive within some of the most dense populations in Tokyo.

In further support of its endeavors, Waymo has partnered with Japan's largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu, alongside the taxi app provider GO. Waymo is also not reported to have publicly announced an exact date to start its commercial services in these driverless vehicles. According to the association, significant development and deployment of this autonomous technology will be bolstered in Japan.

Expansion into Tokyo is a part of Waymo's growth strategy. Along with the international test, Waymo will launch the robotaxi service in Miami by 2024 and will also strengthen its position in Austin and Atlanta. Currently, it is functional in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, averaging more than 150,000 riders weekly. Though Waymo has not made detailed financials public, ridership numbers indicate the firm's annualized revenue could be more than $150 million at the moment.

Waymo is expanding internationally just after a recent development in the space of autonomous vehicles. The company announced just last week that it would pull the plug on Cruise, its competing robotaxi service, and instead focus its autonomous driving technology on personal vehicles. Meanwhile, Tesla, under the helm of Elon Musk, wants to dominate the robotaxi market, although its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features remain subject to human oversight and thus different from Waymo's completely autonomous vehicles that do not require a driver but are overseen remotely by human staff.

In a recent announcement, Waymo revealed it had raised $5.6 billion in its largest funding round to date, underscoring its plans for major growth. Additionally, the company will begin sourcing electric vehicles from Hyundai next year, which are expected to cost about 40% less than the Jaguar I-Pace, marking a shift towards more cost-efficient vehicles and lower-cost computing and sensor hardware.

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