Waymo has opened its next-generation robotaxi to all riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco, marking a significant step for the Alphabet-owned company as it works to expand its fleet with vehicles that cost less to build, operate, and maintain. The new robotaxi, called the Ojai (pronounced oh-hi), may now be matched with customers in these markets when they request a ride. Waymo announced Wednesday that it plans to bring the Ojai to Denver, Las Vegas, and San Diego later in 2026.

Waymo currently has about 300 Ojai robotaxis in its commercial fleet, according to a company spokesperson. Once enough Ojais join the fleet, riders will have the option to select between the new vehicle and the older Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi. The company has operated 11 U.S. cities with its all-electric, modified Jaguar I-Pace fleet for years. New York-based research firm MoffettNathanson, which tracks Ojai imports by examining detailed receipts of shipped goods, said Waymo is on pace to bring 5,000 Ojai vehicles to the United States by the end of 2026. That would be more than double Waymo's current Jaguar fleet, according to the firm. In July alone, 725 Ojai vehicles entered the country.

The Ojai is equipped with Waymo's sixth-generation self-driving system, which is critical to the company's commercial strategy because it's modular and designed to work across multiple vehicle types, the report states. The robotaxi also comes with a redesigned user interface and Google's Gemini AI, which acts as an in-car assistant for riders. Strip away that technology, though, and the Ojai is a minivan made by Zeekr, a brand owned by China's Geely Holding Group. Waymo partnered with Zeekr in 2021 and has spent years testing a prototype, and later a production-intent version of the vehicle.

The white, sensor-laden Jaguar I-Pace hatchback has become ubiquitous in markets such as San Francisco, but it has been more of a stopgap in Waymo's longer-term push toward mass scale and eventual profitability. The goal was to create a robotaxi that was attractive and easy for riders to access, but also cheap to build and maintain and durable enough to withstand near-constant use, according to the report. The Ojai delivers on many of those goals, though tariffs on the imported vehicles have added cost. Under current U.S. trade policy, vehicles built in China face steep import tariffs, which raises Waymo's costs for every Ojai it brings into the country. The base Zeekr vehicles ship without any Chinese connected-car technology on board. After arriving in the U.S., they're sent to Waymo's Arizona factory, where they are outfitted with the self-driving system. The rapid July import pace underscores the scale and ambition of Waymo's expansion efforts as the company races to make autonomous ride-hailing economically viable. The platform shift away from luxury vehicles like the Jaguar toward purpose-built minivans reflects a strategic bet that operational efficiency will matter more than premium branding as robotaxis move from novelty to mainstream transportation.