They’re blue. They’re boxy. And they’re causing a buzz.
Phoenicians are starting to see Waymo LLC’s newest vehicle out and about on local roads and freeways. The vehicle — called the Zeekr RT — is still in testing and isn’t accepting riders yet. But its distinctive look has already captured public attention.
Waymo — a self-driving technology company owned by Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google — says the vehicle will use its sixth-generation autonomous driver. That’s an upgrade from its current fleet of Jaguar I-PACE SUVs, which are equipped with its fifth-generation driving technology.
The company will eventually begin using the vehicles to offer ride-sharing services to the public. Here’s what to know about the vehicles as they emerge on the streets.
Zeekr Group is a China-based, publicly traded electric vehicle company that started producing cars in 2021.
That same year, Zeekr and Waymo announced plans to collaborate on a vehicle designed specifically for autonomous ride-sharing.
The resulting SUV features a fully configurable cabin that can be customized with or without driver controls. It is equipped with 13 cameras, six radar units and an array of external audio receivers. It also has four lidar units on board, which use laser technology to build a three-dimensional model of the vehicle’s surroundings.
With the equipment, each vehicle has overlapping fields of view of the space around it. It can accurately sense its surroundings up to 500 meters away, according to Waymo.
Jaguar announced last year that it would soon halt production of the all-electric I-PACE SUV.
Waymo has about 1,500 of those vehicles on the road in several cities across the country. They have become ubiquitous in the Valley — home to the company’s largest service territory, which covers 315 square miles of Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler and Mesa.
Over the next year, Waymo plans to add 2,000 more I-PACE SUVs as the company expands its service to three new metros, including Dallas and Washington, DC.
It will ultimately switch to the Zeekr RT once the vehicle has been fully tested.
Waymo’s autonomous driving technology — or “driver” — is designed to operate in harsh weather conditions without manual intervention.
Its current system is optimized to deal with extreme heat, fog, rain and hail. But the new technology adds winter weather capabilities that will allow the company to roll out its ride-share services in cities that experience freezing temperatures.
It also includes some sensor tweaks that the company claims will increase performance at a lower cost without compromising safety.
Spokesperson Chris Bonelli said the new vehicles are currently being tested on surface streets and freeways in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
That testing started last year. Bonelli said the vehicles are currently being supervised by employees as they drive around autonomously.
It’s unclear exactly when Waymo might roll out its new vehicles and technology to the public. Bonelli said the company is still working to validate the new vehicle and autonomous driver.
“We’ll move to fully autonomous operations and public rider deployment when we’ve met our safety criteria,” he said.
Waymo recently announced several new programs for riders in the Valley.
It said last month that it would begin offering teen accounts for families in metro Phoenix. It now allows teenagers to ride independently when their account is linked to their parents’ account. Riders from 14 to 17 years old are eligible.
The company is also introducing a new partnership with Spotify that will allow riders to jam out in its driverless cars. Spotify users can sync their account to the Waymo One app while riding in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Sasha Hupka covers utilities and technology for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-6387. Follow her on X: @SashaHupka. Connect with her on LinkedIn: Sasha Hupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps. Follow her on Bluesky: @sashahupka.bsky.social.
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