Waymo opens second robotaxi assembly plant as company records over 100,000 rides per week
Dozens of autonomous Waymo vehicles parked at a staging area in San Francisco.
Getty Images
Waymo is partnering with automaker Magna to open a second manufacturing facility in Arizona. Forbes has learned. The plant will equip thousands of electric Jaguar SUVs as part of the company’s rapid expansion.
Waymo confirmed Forbes that the new factory will be located in Mesa, Arizona, and operated by Magna to equip I-Pace SUVs with cameras, laser lidar, radar and other sensors, as well as computer hardware and interior monitors, on behalf of Mountain View, California-based Waymo. Currently, all Waymo vehicles are finally assembled at a small factory that Magna has operated in Detroit since 2019.
The Arizona expansion comes after Waymo announced last week that its driverless service is now offering at least 100,000 paid rides per week to the public, just months after it passed the 50,000 paid rides per week mark. That number is likely to double again as the company continues to expand in the cities it already operates in and prepares to launch the service in Austin, Texas, later this year. Although Waymo has had numerous competitors over the past decade, none have managed to successfully build a commercial service in multiple cities. While revenue is likely growing quickly, Waymo has not said when it expects to reach profitability.
Passengers ride in an electric Jaguar I-Pace in Santa Monica, equipped with Waymo’s fully autonomous driving technology.
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Importantly, Waymo has so far avoided high-profile accidents, such as one in San Francisco last year when a robotaxi operated by General Motors’ Cruise division struck a woman and dragged her 20 feet, or a case in 2018 in which an inattentive human safety driver in an autonomous Uber test vehicle killed a pedestrian in Phoenix, ultimately ending the company’s self-driving vehicle program. Waymo rides can be booked through the Uber app, and last week the ride-hailing company said Cruise’s service would also be available through the app after commercial operations resume.
The Mesa project comes after Alphabet announced last month that it would invest an additional $5 billion in Waymo. This funding “will enable Waymo to continue to build the world’s leading autonomous driving company,” said Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s outgoing chief financial officer, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
Last week, local Waymo watchers in Phoenix noticed that large quantities of I-Paces were being delivered to the city and stored in a warehouse in Mesa, not far from Waymo’s robotaxi depot. None of the vehicles were equipped with Waymo’s telltale sensors, but mounting holes for them had been drilled into the body panels.
“A 225,000-square-foot building has been selected and equipment installation is underway,” said Magna spokesman Dave Niemiec. “This expansion is expected to create hundreds of new jobs.”
According to Magna’s website, these include manufacturing engineers and team leaders for the plant’s assembly and material handling operations.
Neither Waymo nor Magna disclosed how much will be invested in the Mesa project.
Currently, the I-Pace is Waymo’s flagship model, replacing its original fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Waymo also recently began U.S. road testing of its next-generation vehicle, a small electric van made by Chinese brand Zeekr. Chris Bonelli, a Waymo spokesman, declined to say whether Zeekr vehicles will also be assembled at the Mesa plant in the future.
Waymo is currently testing electric vans from the Chinese brand Zeekr for its US robotaxi fleet.
Waymo
