Waymo plans to boost self-driving fleet to 20K vehicles by next year: report

Waymo is reportedly planning to boost the size of its robotaxi fleet to 20,000 vehicles by the end of next year – a huge increase meant to fuel the Alphabet-owned firm’s nationwide expansion.The self-driving car company is aiming to double the size of its fleet to 8,000 cars by the end of this year – up from its currently level of roughly 4,000, Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the matter.The biz hopes to hit 20,000 cars by the end of next year.To pay for the major expansion, Waymo is tapping into a $5 billion loan that was announced on its website earlier this month.

The money “will accelerate the continued expansion of our fully autonomous ride-hailing service across the United States and internationally,” according to Waymo.A Waymo spokesperson declined to comment.As The Post reported earlier this week, Waymo’s expansion plans rely heavily on the introduction of powder-blue “Ojai” vans – a rebranded version of a vehicle made by Zeekr, a unit of the Chinese Communist Party-linked Geely Holding Group.Waymo imports the vehicle “shell” from China and then adds its own self-driving software and sensors at a plant in Arizona.Waymo is expected to import about 5,100 Ojai vehicles by the end of this year, more than doubling the size of its current fleet that mostly consists of Jaguar I-Pace SUVs, according to data from research firm MoffittNathanson.

The Ojais are already active on the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix and are slated to roll out in more cities by the end of the year.The tie-up with Zeekr has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers and safety experts warning that it could threaten the US auto industry and even pose a potential national security risk.Existing Commerce Department rules have banned the import or sale of any “connected vehicles” or self-driving software made in China or Russia starting in model year 2027, with a similar ban on hardware set to take effect for model year 2030.Effor...