Waymo’s robotaxi boom: Fleet data reveals heavy U.S. concentration

Explosive growth in cities and riders

In September 2024 Waymo served just three markets—Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco—while today it operates robotaxi service in 15 U.S. cities, with most of those launches occurring in the past year. Ridership has surged to an average of 500,000 paid rides each week. Waymo, which spun out of Google, remains majority‑owned by Alphabet.

Geographic concentration: 80% of roughly 4,000 vehicles in two states

Despite the nationwide rollout, about 80% of Waymo’s approximately 4,000 robotaxis are parked in California and Texas. The remaining roughly 800 vehicles are scattered across other states, including Arizona and Florida, a market that is quickly gaining traction. Most of the dispersed fleet are the familiar white Jaguar I‑Pace electric SUVs, but an increasing share are the new Ojai minivans. California’s prominence is unsurprising given Waymo’s Silicon Valley headquarters, its early testing and development work there, and a population that readily adopts new technology.

Texas surge driven by the new Ojai minivan

Texas has become the primary growth engine. State vehicle registrations and the Texas Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Tracker show Waymo’s fleet there jumped 49% in three weeks, reaching 1,102 autonomous vehicles as of September 24. The surge followed a September influx of Ojai minivans, which now account for about one‑third of the Texas fleet. Earlier in the summer the Texas fleet was relatively static, climbing from roughly 600 vehicles in June to just over 700 by the end of August. Waymo first entered commercial service in Austin in March 2025 through a partnership with Uber, allowing riders to hail robotaxis via the Uber app, and has since expanded to Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Ojai minivan: Chinese roots, Arizona assembly, AI upgrades

The Ojai is a modified Zeekr RT built on Geely’s SEA‑M platform, a shared chassis designed for robotaxis and delivery vans. Base units ship from China without any Chinese connected‑car technology, then travel to Waymo’s Arizona facility where they receive the sixth‑generation self‑driving system, a rugged interior, an upgraded rider interface and Google Gemini AI as an in‑car assistant. The vehicle is intended to lower operating costs and help Waymo achieve profitability, but U.S. tariffs on Chinese‑built cars raise the per‑unit expense. Waymo appears willing to absorb that cost.

MoffettNathanson, a New York‑based research firm that tracks Ojai imports using detailed shipping records, reported in September that Waymo is on track to bring 5,100 of the vehicles into the U.S. by the end of the year.

Outlook: More Ojai units heading to Florida and Las Vegas

While the 5,100 projected Ojai imports will certainly bolster Texas operations, Florida—where Waymo runs services in three cities—and newer markets such as Las Vegas are also expected to receive significant numbers. Even with this broader distribution, the fleet data makes clear that Waymo’s robotaxi network remains heavily anchored in just two states, underscoring both the scale of its ambition and the geographic limits of its current deployment.