Waymo is scaling fast. Here’s what the fleet data shows.

Waymo’s commercialized robotaxi ramp-up looks expansive, some successful geographic scope and successful ridership. And by astir each measure, it is — until you wage attraction to wherever the bulk of those robotaxis are really showing up.

The numbers implicit the past 2 years bespeak the benignant of commercialized rollout you’d expect from a deep-pocketed institution similar Waymo, which spun retired of Google and inactive counts Alphabet arsenic its bulk owner. In September 2024, Waymo was operating successful conscionable 3 cities — Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Today, it offers robotaxi work successful 15 U.S. cities, with astir of those commercialized launches occurring successful the past year. Ridership has skyrocketed, excessively with Waymo present averaging 500,000 paid robotaxi rides each week.

But a person look astatine its fleet shows a institution concentrating its efforts successful conscionable 2 states. About 80% of Waymo’s astir 4,000 robotaxis are successful California and Texas, and Texas is wherever the enactment is now: Waymo’s fleet determination has grown by astir fractional successful the past 3 weeks, fueled by a caller Chinese-built minivan the institution is betting volition assistance it scale, adjacent arsenic tariffs thrust up its costs.

The different 800 oregon truthful vehicles are dispersed crossed cities successful different states, including Arizona and Florida, different burgeoning hotspot. Most are the acquainted achromatic Jaguar I-Pace electrical SUVs, but a increasing stock are that caller minivan — a modified Zeekr RT that Waymo has branded “Ojai.”

Waymo’s absorption connected California is nary surprise. It is headquartered successful Silicon Valley, and overmuch of its aboriginal investigating and improvement enactment was conducted there. Plus, a conception of the colonisation determination is inclined to follow tech astatine its earliest stages.

The caller maturation successful Texas is much interesting. Waymo has accrued its Texas fleet by 49% successful the past 3 weeks, according to authorities conveyance registrations and information from the Texas Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Tracker. As of September 24, Waymo had 1,102 autonomous vehicles registered successful the state.

Waymo archetypal launched successful commercialized work successful Austin done a concern with Uber successful March 2025, letting riders hail its robotaxis done the uber app. Since then, the institution has expanded its robotaxi services successful Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

Waymo’s Texas fleet remained comparatively static for astir of the summer, inching up from astir 600 vehicles successful June to much than 700 by the extremity of August. Then came September, erstwhile the helium fleet surged, driven by an influx of caller Ojai minivans, which present marque up astir a 3rd of Waymo’s Texas fleet.

Expect that stock to grow.

The Ojai robotaxi, equipped with Waymo’s sixth-generation self-driving system, is expected to assistance Waymo scope wide scale. Its interior is built to withstand dense use, and it comes with an upgraded rider interface and Google’s Gemini AI, which acts arsenic an in-car adjunct for riders.

Strip distant that technology, though, and the Ojai is simply a minivan made by Zeekr, a marque owned by China’s Geely Holding Group (which besides owns Volvo). The Ojai is built connected Zeekr’s SEA-M platform, a shared conveyance level designed for uses similar robotaxis and transportation vans. The basal Zeekr vehicles are shipped to the U.S. without immoderate Chinese connected-car exertion connected board. Once they arrive, the vehicles are sent to Waymo’s Arizona factory, wherever they are outfitted with Waymo’s self-driving system.

The Ojai is expected to thrust down costs and yet assistance Waymo scope profitability. For now, though, tariffs are cutting immoderate savings. Under existent U.S. commercialized policy, vehicles built successful China look steep import tariffs, raising Waymo’s costs for each Ojai it brings into the country.

Waymo appears consenting to sorb that cost. New York-based probe firm MoffettNathanson, which tracks Ojai imports utilizing elaborate shipping records, said successful its September study that Waymo is connected way to bring 5,100 of the vehicles into the U.S. by the extremity of the year.

Where volition each those Ojai vehicles go? Texas is surely connected the list. But Florida, wherever Waymo operates successful 3 cities, and newer markets similar Las Vegas volition apt spot an influx arsenic well.