Cybercab Is Coming, Waymo Isn’t Impressed

<p>This week on <a href="https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-markets/">Autonomy Markets</a>, <a href="https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/grayson-brulte/">Grayson Brulte</a> and Walter Piecyk discuss Grayson’s field work across the Bay Area, Tesla’s September 3rd Cybercab launch and Nevada’s authorization of 8,000 autonomous vehicles in Clark County.</p><p>Fresh off a week of field work in California, Grayson shares firsthand impressions from his first rides in Waymo’s Zeekr-built Ojai, including a visit to Waymo’s Toland depot in San Francisco. While the Ojai rides lighter and less luxurious than the Jaguar I-PACE, its elevated sensor placement meaningfully reduces repair costs and insurance payouts in the event of a rear-end collision.</p><p>Grayson views the Ojai as a stopgap vehicle on the path to the Hyundai IONIQ 5, which he believes will be Waymo’s massive production ramp vehicle. After riding in the <a href="https://indices.roadtoautonomy.com/robotaxi/zoox/">Zoox</a>, the Ojai and the Jaguar back-to-back, and observing Waymo’s infrastructure buildout from San Francisco down to San Jose, Grayson makes a prediction. When <a href="https://indices.roadtoautonomy.com/robotaxi/waymo/">Waymo</a> adds roughly 1,000 to 1,200 additional vehicles in the Bay Area, the company will capture a significant portion of the rideshare market share.</p><p>Grayson also rode with <a href="https://indices.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomous-driving-licensing/wayve/">Wayve</a> with his <a href="https://autnmy.ai/">AUTNMY AI</a> co-founder <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertgrant2/">Rob Grant</a> in a fully dynamic, no-fixed-route supervised ride, noting the technology has accelerated meaningfully since his last <a href="https://youtu.be/ogD-5AZhns4">ride in London</a> as Wayve gears up for unsupervised operations.</p><p>Turning to <a href="https://indices.roadtoautonomy.com/robotaxi/tesla/">Tesla</a>, the Cybercab is scheduled to commercially launch in Austin on September 3rd, with Grayson expecting a measured rollout of sub-30 Cybercabs in week one, driven by an internal safety metric and infrastructure that is still being built out.</p><p>Meanwhile, Nevada’s Transportation Authority unanimously authorized 8,000 autonomous vehicles in Clark County over 12 months. But the growth comes with a catch, as autonomy drop-off fees and exclusive resort partnerships threaten to bring Vegas-style nickel and diming to robotaxis in Sin City.</p><p>On the foreign autonomy desk, China’