Vehicles drive themselves off the production line

Waymo, a leading self-driving car developer, has recently inaugurated a cutting-edge manufacturing and integration plant in Phoenix, Arizona, in collaboration with Canadian Tier One supplier Magna. At this state-of-the-art facility, the autonomous vehicles are seamlessly produced and driven off the line directly into operation, marking a significant advancement in the realm of autonomous transportation.

The company has just received its final shipment of 2000 I-Pace electric vehicles from Jaguar Land Rover, a move that will substantially increase the existing fleet. These vehicles, which have been in operation in San Francisco since 2021, undergo a transformation process at the plant where they are equipped with advanced technologies such as cameras, lidar laser sensors, and a central compute hub – all of which are developed in-house by Waymo.

Waymo has disclosed that the Driver integration plant is geared towards manufacturing thousands of vehicles equipped with fully autonomous technology. The transition will see the company shifting from utilizing Jaguar vehicles to the RT model sourced from Chinese supplier Zeekr, showcasing a strategic evolution in their vehicle lineup.

• Waymo raised $5.6bn for driverless car service
• Autonomous driving database is free to researchers

One of the standout features of the plant is its ability to enable vehicles designated for the Phoenix fleet to drive autonomously out of the facility and immediately commence service. In fact, these vehicles can start picking up their first passengers from the public within just half an hour of leaving the factory. For vehicles destined for other cities, they can be swiftly deployed into public service shortly after arriving at the local depot. Currently, Waymo operates 1500 I-Pace vehicles across key cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, Texas.

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs expressed her enthusiasm about the new facility, stating, “The Waymo and Magna manufacturing facility in Mesa is the latest example of Arizona being the new home for technology to innovate and grow. I’m proud to see autonomous vehicles on our streets every day, helping get people where they need to be safely. The new manufacturing facility will enhance this presence, and the local jobs it’s creating will help Arizona’s tech economy continue to rise on the world stage.”

According to Ryan McNamara, Vice President of Operations at Waymo, “The Waymo Driver integration plant in Mesa is the epicenter of our future growth plans. With our partners at Magna, we’ve opened a manufacturing site that enables the cost efficiency, flexibility, and capacity to scale our fleet to new heights.” The plant is set to introduce an automated assembly line capable of handling both Jaguar and Zeekr integrations, with the potential to produce tens of thousands of fully autonomous Waymo vehicles annually at full capacity.

Post-installation of the Driver system, a crucial phase involves the validation and commissioning process before the vehicles can begin carrying passengers. Waymo has streamlined the end-of-line commissioning to reduce both the time and cost involved, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition to operational readiness.