Investor Gary Black of The Future Fund LLC thinks that Alphabet Inc.-backed Waymo‘s “Ojai” Robotaxi, built with Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.‘s Zeekr, as well as Hyundai‘s Ioniq 5, can compete with Tesla Inc.‘s Robotaxi despite its heavier price tag.
In a post on the social media platform X on Sunday, the investor shared in detail his views on Waymo’s new Robotaxis. On the Zeekr-built Ojai Robotaxi, Black shared that the vehicle would be fitted with Waymo’s 6th-generation AV suite and include over 13 cameras, 4 LiDAR units, and 6 radar sensors. This translates to “a 42% reduction in sensor count vs. the prior 5th-gen Waymo Jaguar I-Pace tech,” he said.
He also broke down the cost of the 5th and 6th-generation Robotaxis, sharing that the Ojai cost, with the Jaguar Robotaxi costing an estimated $150,000-$200,000 per unit. “The lower cost is a key part of Waymo’s push to scale faster and profitably,” Black said.
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The investor also shared that Waymo would be transitioning to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV, which will cost over $50,000 per unit. “Retail Ioniq 5 prices in the U.S. start around $35K so a $50K total cost aligns with a high-volume fleet/autonomous-ready version,” he said.
He then shared how, despite Tesla bulls’ arguments about the presence of safety monitors in Robotaxis, “a robotaxi that arrives with a safety monitor is by definition supervised,” according to consumer perception.
The new $GOOGL Waymo Zeekr Ojai robotaxi minivan being manufactured by Geely in China for Waymo outfitted with a 6th-gen Driver suite is estimated to cost $GOOG $75,000 delivered. The Geely-made vehicle has 13 cameras, 4 lidar, and 6 radar, which implies a 42% reduction in sensor…
While Waymo has led the charge in the U.S. autonomous vehicle sector and announced the expansion of its services to four new cities, taking the total number of cities it operates in to ten, Waymo has attracted scrutiny from regulators following multiple incidents involving its AVs.
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Following the investor’s post, he was asked by a user, Randy Kirk, about how Waymo’s Ojai Robotaxi could compete with Tesla’s. The user asked how a “$65,000 car and zero vertical integration of infrastructure” could compete with a “$16,000 car with its own world wide charging and service infrastructure.”
