Waymo's New Zeekr-Based Ojai Robotaxi Opens to Passengers
Waymo has announced that its newest vehicle, the Zeekr RT minivan branded internally as Ojai, is now open to select non-employee passengers after several months of testing.
The autonomous vehicle company will initially offer free rides to select users in three cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. The expansion to more riders and additional cities is planned to happen gradually. Waymo intends to use this initial passenger phase to gather data on the rider experience before introducing paid rides at a later date.
The transition to the Zeekr-based Ojai marks an important shift for Waymo's fleet. The company's current vehicles are Jaguar I-Pace SUVs equipped with its fifth-generation autonomous driving technology, which first launched in March 2020. According to the report, that vehicle platform has reached the end of its commercial shelf life, making way for the newer minivan design.
The Ojai vehicle represents Waymo's next generation of robotaxi hardware, built on a purpose-designed electric minivan platform rather than a converted luxury SUV. This new architecture is expected to offer improved passenger capacity and a different operational profile suited to broader ride-hailing deployment.