(Credit: Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Waymo is adding its spacious Ojai minivans to its robotaxi fleet. The Google-owned company has been testing the new autonomous vehicles (AVs) with employees for months and is now making them available for public rides. Over the coming weeks, select customers in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will see an option to ride in an Ojai (pronounced oh-hai) for free on the Waymo app.
A few months later, the Ojai minivans will become available in Denver, Las Vegas, and San Diego before becoming widely available later this year. Interested customers can sign up as a Trusted Tester on the Waymo app right now.
The Ojai minivan is a rebranded version of the Zeekr RT, a vehicle purpose-built for autonomous ride-hailing by Chinese automaker Geely. Waymo entered into a partnership with the company in 2021.
The Ojais will be the first cars to use Waymo’s 6th-generation self-driving technology, called Waymo Driver. So far, the company’s fleet has primarily consisted of Jaguar I-Pace cars retrofitted with the 5th-gen Waymo Driver.
The Ojai’s standout feature appears to be the space it offers. The car’s interior feels more airy and offers decent legroom. It is “like a living room on wheels,” Waymo says.
(Credit: Waymo)Once the vehicle arrives for pickup, passengers will be welcomed with elevator-style sliding doors. On the inside, they will find a flat floor and three large LED screens for temperature, music, and other controls. There’s also embedded braille markings and seat-integrated grab handles for increased accessibility.
Waymo is rolling out the new vehicle as it expands rapidly. The company currently completes 500,000 paid rides per week and operates in 11 cities across the US. It’s also conducting tests in two dozen other cities, including London, New York, and Washington, DC.