- Alphabet Inc-owned autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo, is planning to further expand its offer of fully autonomous and fully electric taxi services in the U.S., with the firm confirming that a fleet of fully-electric Jaguar I-PACEs will be hitting the streets of Miami, Florida.
- Waymo will begin the process of putting the autonomous I-PACES onto Miami’s streets from 2025, before opening up the service to the public through the Waymo One app from 2026.
- With the frequent daily contrasts between blinding sun and heavy rain, Florida represents a significant challenge for autonomous driving – but the firm says that previous autonomy trials within the state has helped them master these conditions.
Waymo One service expands
Waymo’s autonomous and electric taxi service is already available in a number of major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. This further expansion has been made possible thanks to Waymo’s new fleet partnership with Moove. This firm will first assist the ridehailing firm in Phoenix, with Moove taking on the role of fleet operations, charging, and infrastructure, for the autonomous fleet. This same process will be employed in Miami, though services will still remain under the Waymo One app and branding.
Ryan McNamara, Vice President of Operations at Waymo, commented:
“We are excited to partner with Moove in Phoenix and later Miami, bringing together their mobility-focused fleet management experience with our growing Waymo One service. Together, we will provide safe, seamless trips for riders, and scale faster and more cost-effectively over time, with safety continuing to lead the way.”
Ladi Delano, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Moove, added:
“Ride hailing has transformed urban mobility over the past 15 years, yet the core experience has largely remained unchanged. Waymo’s safe, reliable, and convenient Waymo One service leads in autonomous technology, and together, we’re driving a major shift in urban mobility. Moove is proud to partner with Waymo, bringing the operational expertise to make this transformation possible.”
With Jaguar discontinuing its I-PACE, Waymo’s future autonomous fleets will need to find another electric option. It seems as though Hyundai is ready to fill that gap, however, with the OEM recently partnering with Waymo to provide IONIQ 5 EVs which will adopt Waymo’s autonomous tech.
