Automakers aren’t the only ones going electric as Waymo has announced plans to phase out the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid and go EV-only.
In an update, the autonomous driving firm said the plug-in hybrid minivan will be replaced by the Jaguar I-Pace in Phoenix and the East Valley region late next month. When this occurs, the entire Waymo One ride-hailing fleet will be fully electric.
Waymo said “Electric vehicles like the I-Pace generate less carbon emissions than their gas counterparts, but with the average vehicle in the U.S. parked 95% of the time, their full benefits are often unrealized. We believe that autonomous EVs efficiently driven around the clock can maximize those environmental benefits with a significantly higher vehicle utilization.”
Waymo went on to note their EVs are charged with 100% renewable energy and say they’re looking forward to future electric vehicles such as those made by Zeekr.
More: Zeekr Shows Us More Of The Upcoming Waymo Robotaxi
In other news, the company is expanding to Austin, Texas. This is a homecoming of sorts as the original Firefly prototype was demonstrated on residential streets in the city back in 2015.
Waymo noted a lot has changed since then as the Austin metropolitan area has seen its population soar by 30% in the past eight years. This makes it appealing for the company and they said “our goal is to learn as much as we can from Austin’s busy, growing and diverse neighborhoods.”
Engineer Nathaniel Fairfield added, “A lot of the experiences you encounter on Austin’s roads are useful for what we’re already doing in San Francisco and Phoenix. All three are fast-changing cities with busy downtowns that host a ton of live events.”
In Austin, Waymo will be deploying the I-Pace and their fifth-generation ‘driver’ technology. The autonomous vehicles will traverse “across central and East Austin, including downtown, Rainey Street, Clarksville, Bouldin Creek, the Market District, Holly, and the Capitol.”
