Waymo Adding A Second Robotaxi Assembly Facility As It Tops 100,000 Weekly Rides

Waymo is partnering with auto engineering firm Magna to open a second assembly facility in Arizona, Forbes has learned. The plant will equip thousands of electric Jaguar SUVs as part of the company’s rapid expansion.

Waymo confirmed to Forbes that the new factory is in Mesa, Arizona, and will be operated by Magna to outfit I-Pace SUVs with cameras, laser lidar, radar and other sensors, as well as computing hardware and in-cabin monitors under contract for Mountain View, California-based Waymo. Currently, all Waymo vehicles undergo final assembly at a small factory Magna has operated in Detroit since 2019.

The expansion in Arizona comes after Waymo last week said that its driverless service now provides at least 100,000 paid rides per week to the public, just months after it topped 50,000 paid rides per week. That number is likely to double again as it continues to expand in the cities where it already operates and prepares to roll out the service in Austin, Texas, later this year. Though Waymo has had numerous competitors in the past decade, none have managed to successfully scale up a commercial service in multiple cities. While revenue is likely growing fast, Waymo hasn’t said when it expects to be profitable.

Importantly, Waymo so far has avoided high-profile accidents, such as one in San Francisco last year when a robotaxi operated by General Motors’ Cruise unit struck and dragged a woman 20 feet, or a 2018 case in which an inattentive human safety driver in an autonomous Uber test vehicle killed a pedestrian in Phoenix, ultimately ending that company’s self-driving vehicle program. Waymo rides can be booked via Uber’s app and last week the ride-hailing company said Cruise’s service would also be available on the app after its commercial operations resume.

The Mesa project comes after Alphabet said last month it’s investing an additional $5 billion into Waymo. That funding “will enable Waymo to continue to build the world’s leading autonomous driving company,” Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s outgoing CFO, said on the company’s second-quarter results call.

Last week, local Waymo watchers in Phoenix began noticing large numbers of I-Paces being shipped into town and stored at a warehouse in Mesa, not far from Waymo’s robotaxi depot. None of the vehicles were equipped with Waymo’s telltale sensors but mounting holes for them had been drilled into their body panels.

“An approximately 230,000 square-foot building has been selected and equipment installation is underway,” Magna spokesman Dave Niemiec said. “This expansion is expected to create hundreds of new jobs.”

Those include manufacturing technicians and team leaders for the facility’s assembly and material handling operations, according to Magna’s website.

Both Waymo and Magna declined to say how much is being invested in the Mesa project.

Currently, the I-Pace is the main Waymo model, replacing its original fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Waymo also recently began U.S. road tests of its next-generation vehicle, a small electric van designed by China’s Zeekr brand. Chris Bonelli, a Waymo spokesman, declined to say if Zeekr vehicles would also be assembled at the Mesa plant in the future.

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