Waymo will begin testing autonomous Toyota bZ4X vehicles in Japan next year as part of a broader partnership with the automaker to provide electric vehicles for robotaxi operations in international markets, including the U.K.
Under the partnership announced Friday, Toyota will manufacture the 2027 bZ4X vehicles and integrate Waymo’s self-driving system at its Takaoka factory in Japan. (The electric vehicle is now known as the BZ in the North American market)
The autonomous bZ4X vehicles will initially be tested in Japan, where Waymo intends to eventually operate a robotaxi service. But the intent is to deploy these vehicles in other right-hand driving countries such as the U.K. Waymo has been testing its autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in London for months and plans to launch a robotaxi service there once it receives the necessary permits.
The announcement comes 18 months after Toyota and Waymo signed a preliminary agreementto explore the development and deployment of an autonomous vehicle platform. At the time, the agreement fell into the “let’s see what happens” category, with language vague enough to leave plenty of room for interpretation.
For now, the partnership looks more like a conventional vehicle supplier deal that helps Waymo fill specific regional needs while adding a new model to its robotaxi portfolio.
But the partnership could go beyond robotaxis. The companies said they will continue to look at bringing Waymo’s autonomous technology to personally owned Toyota vehicles.
Toyota and Waymo also announced plans to look at other future “initiatives” that would use “insights from Waymo’s real-world operations” to improve safety for other road users. What that might mean is unclear, although Hiroki Nakajima, executive vice president of Toyota and a board member, provided some clues.
“This collaboration will help scale that technology and bring it to customers in Japan and beyond through Waymo’s ride-hailing service, and in parallel, Toyota will continue to explore how integrating vehicles with traffic infrastructure can make those roads safer still,” he said in a statement.
Source: techcrunch.com
