Waymo to Convert 2000 Jaguar I-Pace Electric Cars into Autonomous Taxis
More than 2000 Jaguar I-Pace electric cars are set to be converted into autonomous taxis at a new factory in the US, located in Arizona by manufacturer Magna. This initiative is part of Waymo’s efforts to expand its autonomous vehicle services.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, is already conducting over 250,000 autonomous taxi trips each week in cities like Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. The company now aims to extend its services to Atlanta, Miami, and Washington DC starting next year.
The current fleet of Waymo consists of 1500 vehicles, all of which are I-Paces. The conversion of an additional 2000 I-Paces involves retrofitting hardware such as roof-mounted lidar, radar sensors, and 29 cameras, along with integrating the sixth-generation Waymo Driver computing software.
Waymo’s vice-president of operations, Ryan McNamara, stated, “The Waymo Driver integration plant in Mesa is the epicenter of our future growth plans. With our partners at Magna, we’ve opened a manufacturing site that enables the cost efficiency, flexibility, and capacity to scale our fleet to new heights.”
Since the I-Pace is no longer in production by Jaguar, the factory will also start converting new cars like the Zeekr Mix.
When operating at full capacity, the factory will have the capability to convert tens of thousands of vehicles per year, according to Waymo.
