A New Era for Waymo’s Fleet
Waymo is launching its sixth-generation Driver system on public roads.
The first vehicle to carry the upgraded hardware is the Zeekr-built Ojai electric minivan. Soon, Waymo employees in Los Angeles and San Francisco will begin fully autonomous rides in it. Public access will follow.
Until now, Waymo tested these vehicles with safety drivers behind the wheel. That phase is ending.
Smaller, Cheaper, More Scalable
The sixth-gen Waymo Driver suite replaces the older system used on the Jaguar I-Pace fleet. This new setup costs less. It also takes up less space. More importantly, Waymo designed it for high-volume production.
The company says it can adapt the hardware to multiple vehicle types. After the Zeekr Ojai, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 will join the fleet.
That flexibility matters. Waymo plans to expand into 20 additional cities this year.
To support that growth, the company is scaling its Metro Phoenix facility to produce tens of thousands of Driver kits annually. As production increases, costs should fall.
Sensors Built for the Real World
Waymo continues to rely on a multi-sensor strategy. The system combines high-definition cameras, lidar, radar, and external audio receivers.
Specifically, it uses 16 high-resolution 17-megapixel cameras. These cameras offer improved dynamic range compared to the previous 29-camera setup. As a result, the system performs better at night.
Short-range lidar delivers centimeter-level accuracy. Radar adds redundancy at a lower cost. Meanwhile, external audio receivers detect sirens and train signals.
Waymo also added cleaning systems to key sensors. Snow or debris should not easily block visibility.
Unlike Tesla’s vision-only approach, Waymo builds in multiple layers of redundancy.
Scaling Fast
Waymo currently operates about 1,500 vehicles. The company aims to grow that fleet to 3,500 this year. Long term, it targets tens of thousands of robotaxis.
The Zeekr Ojai may look unconventional. However, for Waymo, it represents something bigger: scalable autonomy ready for prime time.
