Toyota to build Waymo self-driving taxis for Japan, UK and beyond

Toyota will build bZ4X electric SUVs kitted out with self-driving hardware and software from Waymo.

The two companies expect a validation fleet of bZ4Xs to hit the roads of Japan in 2027. Cars will also be sent to the UK and other countries, but timing has yet to confirmed. Neither partner has indicated when the bZ4X Waymo will enter revenue service.

As part of the announcement overnight, the two firms stated they "will continue to explore the future of autonomous driving technology" for privately-owned Toyotas.

Production of these self-driving Toyotas will take place at the company's Takaoka factory in Toyota City, alongside manually-driven bZ4X models. Waymo's hardware suite of cameras, radars and lidar will are fitted to the car in Toyota's plant.

The bZ4Xs that Toyota will build for Waymo will all be fitted with automatic doors, an electric tailgate, and ambient lighting.

In a prepared statment Dmitri Dolgov, co-CEO of Waymo, claimed its vehicles are "20 times safer than human drivers when it comes to serious crash injuries" and said the company chose Toyota "because of our respect for the legendary safety, reliability, and quality of their vehicles".

Hiroki Nakajima, Toyota's chief techonology officer, added, "No single company can achieve the goal of zero traffic accidents alone, but with partners like Waymo, we will get there one step at a time."

Waymo is currently available to the public in 15 American cities from San Francisco and Los Angeles in the west to Tampa and Miami in the east.

Over the next year or two, the service will expand to more cities in the US, including New York City, as well as beyond the USA's borders to Toronto, London, Tokyo and Madrid.

Currently Waymo's autonomous taxi fleet consists of Jaguar I-Pace SUVs, and the Waymo Ojai people mover, which is based on the Zeekr's Sustainable Experience Architecture. Parts of the Ojai are built in China before being shipped to Mesa, Arizona for final assembly.

In 2024 Waymo signed a deal with Hyundai to deliver up to 50,000 Ioniq 5 hatchbacks for use as robotaxis, although it's unclear how many have been delivered so far. The company previously used Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid people movers for its ride-hailing fleet.

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