Waymo Finally Opens Ojai Robotaxis to Riders
EV charging networks Revel and Voltera unite, Urban Autonomy Summit Detroit speakers announced, and Bliq receives Europe’s first approval for fully driverless road operations
This week’s edition is brought to you by Voltera, the infrastructure partner scaling autonomous fleet deployment.
Top Stories of the Week
Waymo opens Ojai robotaxis to select riders as company aims to lower cost of fleet expansion (link).
Rides will be available to some public passengers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, before opening up in San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver this summer, Waymo said in a statement on Thursday. Alphabet’s self-driving division already had 100 Ojai vehicles on the road as part of its almost 4,000-car fleet. The company will have thousands of Ojai cars on the road by the end of the year, Ryan Powell, Waymo’s head of design, told CNBC in an interview.
Related: We tried out Waymo's spacious new robotaxi Ojai. It glitched, but we had way more space and could fit in 6 suitcases (link).
Other Stuff
Revel to Merge With EQT-Backed Voltera, Uniting EV Charging Networks (link, no paywall).
The combined business, which will operate under the Voltera brand and be led by Revel Chief Executive Officer Frank Reig, is expected to include more than 1,000 charging stalls across 11 major US markets, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. In addition to building infrastructure for autonomous and ride-hail vehicles, the new company “expects to explore adjacent opportunities,” including fleet services, charging for non-autonomous cars, and energy management solutions such as battery storage.
Waymo Takes Its Self-Driving Cars to Virginia (link, no paywall).
Ethan Teicher, a spokesperson for Waymo, confirmed the move to WIRED and called it “an important preparatory step should the Commonwealth authorize fully autonomous ride-hailing.” Still, he said, the company does “not currently have plans for a commercial service there.”
Built for Autonomous Fleet Deployment
Voltera develops, owns, and operates high-capacity charging infrastructure purpose-built for autonomous vehicle fleets. By managing site selection, power coordination, construction, and operations, Voltera enables rapid deployment in dense urban markets where land, power, and permitting are the biggest constraints. As autonomy scales, infrastructure becomes the bottleneck. Voltera delivers high-performance fleet hubs that remove upfront capital and execution risk—enabling faster market entry and scalable deployment.
Please reach out to learn more about partnering with Voltera.
Bliq Receives Europe’s First Approval for Fully Driverless Road Operation. Without a Driver Behind the Wheel (link). Bliq appears to be using its own tech stack instead of relying on a partner like WeRide or Pony.ai. Also notable is that they’re using the Hyundai Ioniq 5 platform, which is quickly becoming the “default” robotaxi vehicle for many AV developers. As more companies converge on the same “car of the future,” it raises the question of how they (including Waymo) will ultimately stand out if everyone is using the same vehicle.
Bliq.ai, a European startup developing driverless cars for private use, announced that it has received approval to operate its vehicles on public roads in Estonia without a driver behind the wheel. The approval marks the first authorization of its kind in an EU member state and enables Bliq to begin fully driverless road operations under remote supervision. With a dozen vehicles already in operation and further expansion underway, Bliq currently operates what the company believes to be the largest completely driverless vehicle fleet in Europe.
Ecarx, Backed by Geely’s Li, to Sell Robotaxis to US Startup (link, no paywall).
Under the deal, Ecarx would deliver thousands of self-driving cars and design the computing platforms and sensor suites for the vehicles, according to a statement on Tuesday. That should help halve the all-in cost of May Mobility’s autonomous vehicles by 2028, it said.
Diagnosing the long tail: how Mobileye turns edge cases into targeted training (link).
‘We’re starting to see how markets with AV rideshare affect traditional rideshare metrics, but the impact looks different depending on the market’ (link).
End of the Road? Autonomous Vehicles and Displacement Risk (link) via Steve Greenfield.
Blind Waymo Users Revel in the Joy of Riding Alone (link) via Suzanne Philion.
‘Trying to start small talk in LA Ubers’ (link).
‘The Reason Why Waymo Robotaxis Keep Driving Into Floods’ (link).
We just announced an outstanding line up of speakers for our Detroit Urban Autonomy Summit, presented by Nexar, happening on June 9, 2026 in the Motor City!
Jon Miller — Chief Business Officer at Nexar
Henry Greenidge — Senior Policy Advisor & Counsel at DoorDash Labs
Peter Cohen — GM of AV + Rideshare at Terawatt
Justine Johnson — Chief Mobility Officer at State of Michigan
Patrick George — Detroit Bureau Chief at The Wall Street Journal
John McLean — Head of Market Development at Voltera
Jordan Prickett — WW AI & Automation Partnerships at IBM
Erin Galiger — Director of North American Markets at ROCSYS
Nick Allen — Head of AV / Mobility Solutions at TaskUs
Alessandra R. Carreon — Chief Climate Officer at Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
Tom Tang — Chief People and Customer Operations Officer at May Mobility
Alan Hall — Director, Communications & Marketing at Motional
We’re bringing together operators, policymakers, and mobility leaders for an afternoon/evening of panels, networking, and candid conversations around the future of autonomy. We are nearly at capacity, so apply to attend now.
Glydways: This isn’t a vehicle problem. It’s an architecture problem… (link).
Rivian Is Betting Big On This $45K SUV (link).
New bill could bring Waymo robotaxis to the Capital Region (NY) amid concerns (link).
Avride: 600k completed robot deliveries! (link).
I Nailed a Robotaxi Forecast In 2013. Here’s Why Elon Keeps Blowing It (link, no paywall).
Why Tesla’s AI trainers don’t trust its self-driving tech | Reuters World News (link).
What else we're reading/listening to
Junko’s Tech Probe by Junko Yoshida: AV: Where Did the Docs Go Wrong? (link).
This Week in Startups: The Drone Company Quietly Taking Over Delivery (link).
Welcome to Ground Truth | Introducing Aseon Labs (link). Cool new series from Ride AI.
Why Autonomous Fleets Aren’t Ready for Real Cities Yet (link).
Thesis Driven: The Driverless Car Is Coming for the Strip Center (link).
Related: The Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Real Estate with Brad Hargreaves (link).
Waymo’s Case for a Driverless Future | Tekedra Mawakana, Sal Khan | TED (link).
Related: Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana outlines vision for a world of autonomous vehicles (link).
Shift Podcast: Nuro’s Andrew Chapin: Only a few robotaxi companies will survive (link).
Related: Why Nuro thinks being a robotaxi ‘second mover’ gives it an advantage (link, no paywall).
Inside Uber’s AV Strategy with Founding Member Eduardo Rojas (link). Our latest podcast episode features former Uber autonomy and delivery leader Eduardo Rojas, where we chat about Uber’s early AV strategy, how it’s evolved over the years, and why partnerships have become such a key part of Uber’s approach, along with a bunch of other interesting topics.
Our next guest is can’t miss though, so stay tuned.
AV Events
Zoox: We’re on our way to Denver for CVPR! If you’ll be there next week, stop by booth #747 to say hi, meet some of our crew, and see our robotaxi up close (link).
Nexar Account Manager Dean Becker will also be heading to ITS America in Detroit from June 9–12, where Nexar will be showcasing alongside IBM (link).
AVs/Humans behaving badly
‘Waymos confused by the In-N-Out line’ (link).
‘Silicon Valley promised driverless cars. We got robot traffic instead’ (link).
‘Waymo refused officers’ orders’ (link).
‘Waymo driverless vehicle driving on the wrong side of the Venetian Causeway’ (link).
Bay Area couple says Waymo sped through construction zone, followed by police (link). Looks like this might be connected to the freeway halt from last week.
‘When you find a stop sign in the trash’ (link).
‘The Waymo car is destroyed on Memorial day Ice protest in Los Angeles’ (link).
‘How are Waymos when it comes to teens riding alone?’ (link).
Shout-outs
Big thanks to TDD readers at May Mobility, Workers Benefit Fund and to Vandana M for referring new subscribers. If there’s someone you think would enjoy TDD, feel free to forward this email or use the referral button below, and we’ll make sure to shout out your company.
Neat Jobs
Senior Product Data Scientist, Pickups & Dropoffs at Waymo (link) via Alex Shannon.
Recruiting Coordination Lead at Zoox (link) via Melissa M.
Staff Product Manager – Cloud Platform - AI Portal (link) via Claudia Bertani.
Job Moves
Megan Jensen: Uber -> Coco (link).
Alvaro Martinez: Serve Robotics -> Nuro (link).
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Until next week :)
-Harry