Waymo robotaxis have been rolling the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, for several years. But they’ve been slow to expand beyond there. However, it may be moving into a big new phase. Waymo was recently approved to operate its robotaxi serviceThe approval comes from California’s regulator for these services, the California Public Utilities Commission .
Compared to the massive challenges Cruise is facing and Tesla’s huge delays and challenges getting “Full Self Driving” to robotaxi capability, it has to be said that Waymo is looking very good. It led the way into this realm, and lately I’m thinking that it’s still in the lead . I do still think that some Chinese firms are doing exceptionally well, most notably XPeng, but it isn’t yet at the point of robotaxi operations with its consumer vehicles either.
2 minutes into our drive, we ran into a tow truck blocking the entire street. A few vehicles from behind us drove around us up onto the curb and passed the tow truck, but the Waymo just waited. Very quickly, it requested remote assistance. It quickly identified a detour and got us back on track. The total ride was about 15 minutes over 4.2 miles through central Tempe and cost $22. That feels expensive even compared to an Uber so I guess you’re paying for the novelty of not having an expensive human driver in the seat.