Waymo is scaling fast: Here’s what the fleet data shows
- ID
- 28311
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 25 Sep 2026, 7:24 AM
- Fetched
- 25 Sep 2026, 12:22 PM
- Provider
- TechCrunch
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/24/waymo-is-scaling-fast-heres-what-the-fleet-data-shows/
- Source URL
- https://techcrunch.com/feed/
Summary
- Score
- 5.5
- Created
- 25 Sep 2026, 12:22 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersai_ml_learnerssaas_founders
What happened
Waymo now runs commercial robotaxi service in 15 U.S. cities, up from three in September 2024 (Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco), and averages 500,000 paid rides per week. But of its roughly 4,000 vehicles, about 80% sit in California and Texas — Texas alone holds 1,102 as of September 24, a 49% jump in three weeks, partly from a new Chinese-built minivan (a modified Zeekr RT branded 'Ojai') that Waymo is betting on for scale even as tariffs raise its costs.
Why it matters
The headline is 15 cities; the fleet data says two states. If you use this as a benchmark for 'autonomous deployment is everywhere now,' the numbers don't support it — roughly 800 vehicles cover everything outside California and Texas. The more transferable detail for builders is the Zeekr RT bet: Waymo is scaling on imported Chinese hardware while tariffs push unit costs up, which is the same supply-chain-versus-margin tradeoff any hardware-adjacent startup faces. There is no direct Malaysia or Southeast Asia hook in this article.
Discussion angle
Waymo claims 15 cities but concentrates ~80% of 4,000 vehicles in two states — is 'city count' the right metric for any deployment you'd report to users or investors, or should you be reporting density, utilization, or rides per vehicle instead?