Waymo expands fleet: 2,000 more Jaguar I-Pace robot cabs
By ForGeeks Although Jaguar has taken the I-Pace out of production, Waymo -the drone cab subsidiary of Alphabet-is making a serious bet on it. Over the next two years, it plans to equip 2,000 more I-Pace electric crossovers with autopilot and put them on U.S. roads.
Arizona plant will become a fleet assembly center
All new I-Pace will be assembled and refurbished at Waymo’s new plant in Mesa, Arizona. The facility operates in partnership with Magna Magna Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Toyota GR Supra and (until recently) Jaguar I-Pace. The plant began operations last fall and is already actively ramping up capacity.
Waymo currently has about 1,500 unmanned Jaguar I-Pace in its fleet, cruising the streets of San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin. This is the first time the company has officially released such numbers – Waymo is usually extremely reticent to comment on the size of its fleet.
Future plans are Zeekr and Hyundai
In addition to the I-Pace, the Mesa site will soon begin production of the Chinese-made Zeekr RT autonomous minivans. In the future, the company intends to add Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossovers with autopilot to the fleet, but where exactly these cars will be assembled is not specified.
At the end of the day, Waymo wants to produce tens of thousands of drones per year that’s the goal the company announced in an official press release.
“The Waymo Driver integration plant in Mesa is the epicenter of our future growth plans,”-said Waymo’s vice president of operations Ryan McNamara.
Drones are already in the works – and making money
In contrast to competitors that are either exiting the market (like GM’s Cruise) or treading water (hello, Tesla), Waymo is already transporting real paying customers. According to its own data, the company is now making about 250,000 paid rides per week.
In 2026, the service plans to expand into new cities – Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Miami. Judging by the scale of current operations, that’s a realistic move.
The story Waymo expands fleet: 2,000 more Jaguar I-Pace to become robotaxis was first published on ITZine.ru.
