Waymo Ojai

The Waymo Ojai is the first vehicle Waymo deploys that was designed around autonomy from the start rather than converted from a consumer car. It is built by Zeekr, Geely's premium electric brand, on the SEA-M skateboard platform, and was shown as the Zeekr M-Vision concept in November 2022 and as a working robotaxi at CES in January 2025. Waymo gave it the Ojai name on 7 January 2026. It carries the 6th-generation Waymo Driver: 13 cameras with 17-megapixel imagers, four lidars, six imaging radars and external audio receivers — roughly 42% fewer sensors than the 29-camera Jaguar I-PACE fleet, at more than 50% lower cost per vehicle according to Waymo. Cleaning is engineered in, with ten wipers and washers dedicated to keeping the sensor apertures clear in rain, fog and dust. The cabin is the point of the design. With a flat floor, a long wheelbase of just over 3 m and a 2+3 seat layout, it takes four passengers in a space no retrofitted SUV can match, and the missing steering column frees the front row. The powertrain is conventional for the class: a 200 kW (268 hp) motor, 342 Nm and an 800-volt architecture for fast charging; published battery figures differ between sources (93 kWh lithium-ion in reference sources, 76 kWh LFP in press reporting) and Waymo does not state a range. Deployment has been staged. Fully autonomous employee rides started on 12 February 2026 in San Francisco and Los Angeles; selected public riders were let in at the end of May 2026, with general public service from June, and Phoenix followed. In July 2026 Waymo replaced its Charlotte fleet with roughly a dozen Ojai vans — the first city switched over wholesale. Bodies are built in Ningbo, Zhejiang, and finished in Mesa, Arizona; because Waymo imports stripped-down shells rather than finished cars, the 100% US tariff on Chinese EVs applies to a much lower declared value, reported at 10,000–20,000 dollars per unit.

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