Waymo’s New Ride: A Cheaper, Roomier Robotaxi Built for the Masses

Waymo is putting a new kind of robotaxi on the road. Called the Ojai, this pale blue, boxy minivan is the company’s first vehicle designed from the ground up for autonomous driving. Until now, Alphabet’s self-driving unit relied on retrofitted Jaguar I-Paces. That changes this week as the Ojai begins carrying passengers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

The Ojai is built by Zeekr, a subsidiary of China’s Geely, and assembled in Mesa, Arizona. Early riders describe the interior as something between a living room and a minivan. Sliding doors open to a flat floor with a low step-in. Higher ceilings and extra legroom make the cabin feel spacious. Three large LED screens let passengers adjust temperature, pick music, or follow the route. The seats are designed for four, but removing the steering wheel opens space for a fifth. Storage fits groceries or a stroller. Braille markings and screen-reader support were built in from the start, shaped by years of rider feedback.

What makes the Ojai a bigger deal sits on its roof. It carries Waymo’s sixth-generation Driver system, which uses fewer sensors than before: 13 cameras instead of 29, and four lidars instead of five. The whole sensor package costs less than $20,000 per vehicle, according to Electrek. That drop in cost helps explain why the Ojai is significantly cheaper to build than the Jaguar fleet. A small wiper keeps sensors clear in rain or snow. The system sees better in low light and handles harsher weather, opening the door to cities like Denver and Chicago that were previously off limits.

Waymo has logged more than 20 million fully autonomous trips across 11 cities. The company’s safety reports show its vehicles have 92 percent fewer serious crashes than human drivers in similar conditions, and serious injuries or fatalities are 13 times lower. Those numbers matter as regulators and competitors watch closely.

Production at the Mesa factory is ramping up to tens of thousands of vehicles a year. Future models based on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 will join the line. This domestic assembly sidesteps some concerns around foreign manufacturing while still using Zeekr’s cost-efficient platform. The lower cost per vehicle supports faster fleet growth without the heavy capital spending of earlier custom builds.

For now, the Ojai is available to select Trusted Testers in the three launch cities. Access will expand through the summer and fall. Denver, Las Vegas, and San Diego are next, chosen for climates that test the new weather capabilities. The goal is one million weekly rides by the end of 2026. With a cheaper, roomier vehicle that handles rain and snow, that target looks more realistic. The Ojai may not look revolutionary on the street, but underneath it signals a company ready to scale.