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Alphabet (GOOGL) Makes Waymo Fully Autonomous in San Francisco
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Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) self-driving unit Waymo is set to make its ride-hailing vehicles fully driverless on the streets of San Francisco, CA, where it has been gaining traction on the back of its Early Rider program called Trusted Tester.
Since the launch of Trusted Tester in the city, Waymo vehicles contained a safety driver to take control if required.
The company will remove safety drivers soon, allowing a fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing service in San Francisco.
We note that Waymo in San Francisco marks its first expansion outside Phoenix, AZ.
The latest move bodes well for Waymo’s growing efforts toward expanding its ride-hailing service across the United States.
In addition to the latest move, the company recently partnered with Geely, a China-based automotive company. Per the terms, Geely’s electric mobility brand, Zeekr, will design and develop electric vehicles for Waymo, into which Waymo Driver will be integrated.
The vehicles will be first introduced on the roads of the United States. With the Geely partnership, Waymo will expand its Waymo One fleet.
Apart from this, Waymo teamed up with Google’s Maps to ensure a seamless booking experience for Waymo One. This enables customers to book Waymo One directly from the Maps app.
The endeavors will help Alphabet further penetrate the booming autonomous driving space.
Per a report by Mordor Intelligence, the worldwide driverless vehicle market is expected to see a CAGR of 18.06% between 2021 and 2026.
Intensifying Competition
Given the upbeat scenario, not only Alphabet but companies like Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Intel (INTC - Free Report) and Baidu (BIDU - Free Report) are also making every effort to capitalize on the growth prospects in the autonomous driving space.
Amazon’s buyout of Zoox, a developer of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles, remains a major positive. Further, the company’s launch of its first self-driving robotaxi strengthened its position in the autonomous driving space.
Zoox has been testing its autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Foster City. It intends to open an engineering office and operations facility this year, which will act as a base for its autonomous vehicle testing.
Meanwhile, Intel is gaining from the low power consumption of Mobileye chips and the ability to create maps for self-driving systems. The company intends on introducing a pilot for autonomous taxis and ride-hailing services in Munich and Tel Aviv in 2022.
In addition to this, Mobileye recently teamed up with German electric mobility unit Benteler EV Systems and Beep to develop and deploy self-driving, fully electric shuttles in the United States by 2024.
Baidu is gaining from the expansion of the Apollo Go Robotaxi service, which features about 100 pick-up and drop-off stations across several residential as well as business areas.
Nevertheless, Alphabet’s growing autonomous driving initiatives are likely to help it stay ahead of the curve.
Image: Bigstock
Alphabet (GOOGL) Makes Waymo Fully Autonomous in San Francisco
Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) self-driving unit Waymo is set to make its ride-hailing vehicles fully driverless on the streets of San Francisco, CA, where it has been gaining traction on the back of its Early Rider program called Trusted Tester.
Since the launch of Trusted Tester in the city, Waymo vehicles contained a safety driver to take control if required.
The company will remove safety drivers soon, allowing a fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing service in San Francisco.
We note that Waymo in San Francisco marks its first expansion outside Phoenix, AZ.
Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus
Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote
Growing Waymo Efforts
The latest move bodes well for Waymo’s growing efforts toward expanding its ride-hailing service across the United States.
In addition to the latest move, the company recently partnered with Geely, a China-based automotive company. Per the terms, Geely’s electric mobility brand, Zeekr, will design and develop electric vehicles for Waymo, into which Waymo Driver will be integrated.
The vehicles will be first introduced on the roads of the United States. With the Geely partnership, Waymo will expand its Waymo One fleet.
Apart from this, Waymo teamed up with Google’s Maps to ensure a seamless booking experience for Waymo One. This enables customers to book Waymo One directly from the Maps app.
The endeavors will help Alphabet further penetrate the booming autonomous driving space.
Per a report by Mordor Intelligence, the worldwide driverless vehicle market is expected to see a CAGR of 18.06% between 2021 and 2026.
Intensifying Competition
Given the upbeat scenario, not only Alphabet but companies like Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Intel (INTC - Free Report) and Baidu (BIDU - Free Report) are also making every effort to capitalize on the growth prospects in the autonomous driving space.
Amazon’s buyout of Zoox, a developer of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles, remains a major positive. Further, the company’s launch of its first self-driving robotaxi strengthened its position in the autonomous driving space.
Zoox has been testing its autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Foster City. It intends to open an engineering office and operations facility this year, which will act as a base for its autonomous vehicle testing.
Meanwhile, Intel is gaining from the low power consumption of Mobileye chips and the ability to create maps for self-driving systems. The company intends on introducing a pilot for autonomous taxis and ride-hailing services in Munich and Tel Aviv in 2022.
In addition to this, Mobileye recently teamed up with German electric mobility unit Benteler EV Systems and Beep to develop and deploy self-driving, fully electric shuttles in the United States by 2024.
Baidu is gaining from the expansion of the Apollo Go Robotaxi service, which features about 100 pick-up and drop-off stations across several residential as well as business areas.
Nevertheless, Alphabet’s growing autonomous driving initiatives are likely to help it stay ahead of the curve.
Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.