Toyota will build self-driving Waymo taxis based on the bZ4X electric SUV, with a validation fleet expected on Japanese roads in 2027. The vehicles will be assembled at Toyota's Takaoka factory in Toyota City, alongside conventionally driven bZ4X models, with Waymo's cameras, radars and lidar installed at the plant.
Cars will also be sent to the UK and other countries, but neither partner has confirmed timing for those markets, and neither has said when the bZ4X Waymo will begin carrying paying passengers.
What Toyota is building for Waymo
The robotaxis are bZ4X electric SUVs fitted with Waymo's autonomous driving hardware and software. Beyond the self-driving kit, Toyota says the cars will get automatic doors, an electric tailgate and ambient lighting.
Building the vehicles in-house at Takaoka, rather than shipping base cars elsewhere for sensor installation, keeps the robotaxi on the same line as the retail bZ4X. That gives Toyota a route to scale production if Waymo's rollout expands, without standing up a separate assembly operation.
Where and when the service goes
Japan is the first confirmed market for the Toyota-built vehicles, with the 2027 validation fleet described as the near-term milestone. The UK and further countries are named as destinations, but the schedule for them has not been announced.
Waymo currently offers rides to the public in 15 US cities, from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Tampa and Miami. Over the next year or two it plans to add more US cities, including New York City, and to launch outside the US in Toronto, London, Tokyo and Madrid.
The distinction between a validation fleet and a commercial service matters for anyone expecting to hail one soon: the 2027 Japanese cars are for testing the technology on local roads, not a confirmed taxi launch date.
The fleet Waymo runs today
Waymo's current autonomous taxi fleet is made up of Jaguar I-Pace SUVs and the Waymo Ojai people mover, which is based on Zeekr's Sustainable Experience Architecture. Parts of the Ojai are built in China before final assembly in Mesa, Arizona.
In 2024 Waymo signed a deal with Hyundai for up to 50,000 Ioniq 5 hatchbacks to serve as robotaxis, though how many have been delivered so far is unclear. Earlier, the company used Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid people movers for its ride-hailing fleet.
Toyota joins that list as a manufacturing partner rather than a supplier of a single batch: the arrangement puts a major global carmaker's own factory and quality processes behind Waymo's hardware, which is the kind of volume production robotaxi fleets need to grow beyond a handful of cities.
Safety claims and private cars
Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said the company's vehicles are "20 times safer than human drivers when it comes to serious crash injuries", a manufacturer claim rather than an independently verified figure in the announcement. Dolgov said Waymo chose Toyota "because of our respect for the legendary safety, reliability, and quality of their vehicles".
Toyota chief technology officer Hiroki Nakajima said: "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".
The two firms also said they "will continue to explore the future of autonomous driving technology" for privately owned Toyotas. That leaves open the possibility of Waymo-derived systems reaching customer cars, but no model, timeline or specification has been announced.
