USA: Waymo Operating All-Electric I-Pace Driverless Fleet

Robotaxi developer Waymo are now operating an all-electric fleet of fifthgeneration Waymo Driver Jaguar I-Pace cars, having now retired its fourthgeneration tech utilized on the Chrysler Pacifica hybrids.

Waymo was launched in 2009 by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, Inc. as a self-driving car project. In 2016, the Google project was officially rebranded as Waymo, derived from “a new way forward in mobility.” Since then, Waymo has tested its various self-driving vehicles in multiple states.

It has been charging driverless rides for people in Chandler, Arizona, since 2019, followed by paid rides in San Francisco. In early 2023, Waymo announced it had eclipsed 1 million miles alongside news that it will soon begin testing driverless rides in Los Angeles.

In April, Waymo deployed the Jaguar I-PACE and their fifth-generation Waymo Driver in the Phoenix East Valley, making their entire Waymo One ride-hailing fleet fully electric.

With this fleet update, Waymo will join the White House EV Acceleration Challenge to support the administration’s efforts in the transition to electric vehicles. For many, hailing a fully autonomous ride with Waymo may be the easiest way to access an EV.

Their growing ride-hailing service not only increases sustainable transportation options, but also offers Waymo’s safety benefits to the communities they serve.

The I-PACE generates less carbon emissions than their previous hybrid cars, but with the average vehicle in the U.S. parked 95% of the time, their full benefits are often unrealised. Waymo believes that autonomous EVs efficiently driven around the clock can maximize those environmental benefits with a significantly higher vehicle utilization. Taking it a step further, their EV fleet is matched with 100% renewable energy, which enables Waymo to provide a zeroemission ride-hailing service to their customers.

Focusing their service on an all I-PACE fleet helps Waymo better optimise their technical and operational support to be more efficient.

Their machine learning-based fifthgeneration Waymo Driver learns more with every mile travelled, so deploying their existing I-PACE fleet into the Phoenix East Valley will further advance the performance and reliability as they continue to grow.

The company has been deploying I-Pace Jaguars for years, and now it becomes their only vehicle. .

Editor: Information for this story sourced from Robotaxi developer Waymo.