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Waymo expands Texas fleet by 49% with Chinese-built Ojai minivans
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Waymo added 49% more autonomous vehicles to its Texas operations in three weeks, driven by the new Ojai minivan platform.
The fleet surge illustrates how Waymo is betting on a cost-saving vehicle architecture to accelerate scale, but tariff-driven import costs threaten the economics of that strategy.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
Texas fleet grew 49% in three weeks, reaching 1,102 registered autonomous vehicles.
The Ojai minivan, built on Zeekr's SEA-M platform, now comprises about one-third of the Texas fleet.
Tariffs on Chinese-built vehicles are eroding the anticipated cost advantage of the Ojai platform.
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What the cluster adds up to.
The headline change is a concrete expansion of Waymo's autonomous vehicle count in Texas, specifically measured by a 49% increase in registered vehicles over three weeks.
Adopting the Ojai minivan entails absorbing steep U.S. import tariffs that offset the vehicle's intended cost savings, creating a financial strain that could slow the planned rollout of 5,100 units by year-end.
The growth stops short of a full-scale deployment because the tariff burden forces Waymo to subsidize each imported Ojai, meaning the company must either raise prices, seek alternative supply chains, or accept reduced margins to maintain the expansion pace.
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