Waymo Builds Arizona Factory To Grow Robotaxi Fleet By John P. Mello Jr. May 7, 2025 5:00 AM PT The 5th-generation Waymo Driver atop an all-electric Jaguar I-Pace SUV, part of Waymo’s current robotaxi fleet. (Source: Waymo) ADVERTISEMENT Rubrik Foward 2025: The Future of Cyber Resilience is here When an attacker comes for your business, will you be ready? Chart your path to cyber resilience and keep your business running. June 4 | Virtual Event | Register Now Waymo, the autonomous vehicle arm of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, revealed Monday that it plans to expand its manufacturing capacity in Arizona to add 2,000 more robotaxis to its fleet. The company explained in a blog that it’s partnering with Magna International, a Canadian auto parts maker, to build a 239,000-square-foot facility in Mesa to retrofit more than 2,000 Jaguar I-Pace electric SUVs with Waymo’s autonomous driving technology. The vehicles will be used to expand Waymo’s robotaxi services to three new metro areas in 2026: Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C. Currently, Waymo has robotaxi operations in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas. According to Waymo, the new facility’s flexible design will enable it to integrate the 6th-generation Waymo Driver on new vehicle platforms, beginning with the Zeekr RT model later this year. Waymo’s next-gen rider-first robotaxi platform, developed with Zeekr, will debut the 6th-generation Waymo Driver. (Source: Waymo) Waymo explained that the plant will introduce an automated assembly line and other efficiencies over time because it needs to build multiple platforms simultaneously and at higher volumes. It noted that when the facility is operating at full capacity, it will be capable of building tens of thousands of fully autonomous Waymo vehicles per year. “We have made great strides in steadily expanding Waymo One ride-hailing service to multiple commercial markets, and now is the time to scale our technology further to support existing and future deployments,” Waymo Product Communications Manager Chris Bonelli told TechNewsWorld. Significant Announcement “Waymo’s announcement is a significant milestone for the autonomous driving industry,” said Kathleen Rizk, senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology at J.D. Power, a consumer research, data, and analytics firm, in Troy, Mich. “It demonstrates their unwavering commitment to advancing this technology, even as other companies have withdrawn from the market due to various challenges,” she told TechNewsWorld. Edward Sanchez, a senior analyst in the automotive practice of TechInsights, a global technology intelligence company, added that the move has market benefits for Waymo. “This announcement solidifies Waymo’s current position as the leading autonomous ride-hailing provider in the U.S. and signifies the company’s growth ambitions,” he told TechNewsWorld. The commitment to manufacturing could also have broad market benefits, contended Seth Goldstein, an equity strategist and chair of the Electric Vehicle Committee at Morningstar Research Services in Chicago. “Any announcement by a company to build a dedicated robotaxi facility is positive for the broader industry, as it will help accelerate AV [autonomous vehicle] adoption,” he told TechNewsWorld. Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry, a Detroit-based transportation research and advisory company, acknowledged that adding additional capacity to up-fit vehicles with the Waymo Driver is a good sign for Waymo’s progress in deploying their robotaxis, but argued it doesn’t really say anything about the rest of the industry at this stage. “Waymo is at least confident enough in the safety of its system and customer acceptance that it is willing to invest in significantly expanding its fleet to support operations in more cities,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Whether anyone else is able to do this anytime soon remains to be seen, but Zoox is likely to be next with its purpose-built robotaxis.” Zoox, which was acquired by Amazon in 2020, offers robotaxi services in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Las Vegas. It uses vehicles built explicitly for autonomous ride-hailing rather than retrofitting existing vehicles for that purpose. Market Leader Abuelsamid noted that in North America, Waymo is the clear leader in developing robust automated driving systems (ADS) and the back-end services required to run an operation. They’ve also developed fairly healthy relationships with local authorities to integrate the systems with first responders, get curb access, and overcome other challenges. “Zoox is likely to be next in line to deploy commercially,” he said. “Tesla aims to launch a service in Austin next month, but I don’t see evidence that it’s close to being able to safely operate without supervision yet. My guess is they will be operating with a remote driver supervisor on each car to be ready to disengage at any moment, so it would technically still be a Level 2 system, like what they have today.” A Level 2 autonomous driving vehicle is equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that simultaneously control both steering and acceleration/deceleration. However, the human driver must remain engaged and ready to take over at any time. Morningstar technology equity analyst Malik Ahmed Khan noted that Waymo is quite well-positioned in the competitive autonomous vehicle market. “It is the only paid AV taxi service right now doing more than 250,000 rides a week,” he told TechNewsWorld. Khan explained that Waymo’s business model is quite scalable, especially as the firm’s Hyundai/Zeekr vehicles help drive down costs. Interior view of Waymo’s rider-first vehicle platform, designed for autonomous ride-hailing in partnership with Zeekr. (Source: Waymo) Safety Still a Concern for AV Adoption It also differentiates itself from competitors in a number of ways, he added. “Certainly, there is a first-mover/brand awareness differentiation,” Khan observed. Waymo also has deep pockets. “Having a well-capitalized backer such as Alphabet helps, especially when it comes to differentiation against smaller companies with limited access to capital,” Khan said. “Word of mouth and perceptions of safety matter, and Waymo’s strong penetration into its markets shows that an increasing number of riders are on board Waymo from a safety perspective,” he added. Rizk noted that according to J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Robotaxi Experience Study, safety concerns are a significant obstacle to consumer acceptance of autonomous driving. “Consumers want to see federal and state regulations to support this industry,” she said. “Furthermore,” she continued, “safety concerns impact consumer comfort with fully automated self-driving vehicles, and our study findings indicate that 83% of consumers desire safety statistics about the technology before using autonomous vehicles. These safety statistics should not only include data but also demonstrate a proven track record over time, validating consistent performance.” She added that consumers also have concerns that automated vehicle technology may negatively affect data privacy and be susceptible to hacking, as over 80% want to know what measures are being taken to prevent the hacking of AVs. Mainstream AV Use Still a Decade Away With its investment in new manufacturing capacity, Waymo clearly has its eyes focused on a mainstream future. However, that future may be slow to develop. Vehicle deployment, for instance, will be spotty. “The pace of deployment for autonomous vehicles varies widely by region,” TechInsights’ Sanchez said. “In the U.S., it is largely a state-by-state proposition in terms of approval, whereas in markets such as China with more centralized control, approval can be granted on a country-wide basis.” “Even in the EU,” he added, “there are still regional restrictions, although the European Commission is looking to streamline the approval process to allow for multi-country operation of autonomous vehicles.” Morningstar forecasts autonomous vehicles will see rapid adoption growth over the next decade and make up 50% of all ride-hailing rides by 2035 in the U.S. and Canada. “We expect AVs will roll out in a city-by-city approach, the same way Uber and Lyft did last decade,” Goldstein said. “Our bullish outlook is driven by our view that AVs will be cheaper than traditional ride-hailing rides, leading to higher adoption,” he continued. “We also see barriers to adoption falling in the coming years to drive higher growth.” Telemetry’s Abuelsamid also doesn’t expect autonomous vehicles to become common before the end of the decade. “While strides have been made on the hardware cost, the operational costs of a robotaxi system are still very high, and not even Waymo is close to profitability,” he explained. “There is also the problem of utilization because robotaxi demand is uneven during the day, so finding a way to use the vehicles for tasks like deliveries during low-demand periods will be essential,” he said. “I think applications like robo-shuttles to support and expand transit services, long-haul trucking, and middle-mile deliveries make more sense from a business perspective in the near term.” John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. Leave a Comment Click here to cancel reply. Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account. Related Stories More by John P. Mello Jr. view all More in Transportation