According to The Verge, Waymo is planning to begin testing autonomous vehicles in 10 new cities this year. The testing will start in Las Vegas and San Diego. It’s important to note that this does not necessarily mean Waymo will launch commercial operations or conduct tests in autonomous mode in these cities. The company stated that less than 10 autonomous vehicles will be sent to each city where they will be manually driven.
This announcement comes just before Tesla’s 2024 fourth-quarter earnings call, where investors are eager to hear updates on the automaker’s robotaxi and self-driving projects.
Waymo currently runs a commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. They have intentions to expand to Austin, Atlanta, and Miami this year. However, it has not been confirmed if they will launch a robotaxi service in any of the new cities they are testing this year. Typically, Waymo sends out a limited human-driven fleet to test various city and driving conditions to evaluate how well their system adapts to new environments.
In 2024, Waymo conducted tests in Michigan and upstate New York to assess their technology in harsh winter conditions.
