u/mrkjmsdln_new

Another very well written explainer from Brad Templeton. He avoids the hype and sticks to the facts. A replacement for the Jaguar I-Pace was desperately needed. A bit more than 25% of all the I-Paces sold in the US were sold to Waymo and ~7000 were sold worldwide per year during their 7 year run before cancellation. Waymo started preparing for what came after the I-Pace in 2020. A lot changed in the landscape in the intervening period as the US retracted behind tariff walls to compete. The key element of the design collaboration was to have Zeekr plumb the car for plug and play and rapid conversion. Simultaneously Waymo designed plug and play pods to make conversion at least 5X more efficient and approach 10X in the coming years.

Even in the tariff environment we have, it is worth realizing that Waymo mustered less than 4000 I-Pace conversions over about 6 years. They will surpass that number before the end of the year with the Zeekr and scale further next year in Mesa AZ. They will pivot to the Ioniq 5 but reality will be challenging. Waymo made a deal with HKG in Oct 24 weeks before the election. The design of the Ioniq 5 was locked to a MMR with none of the adaptations Zeekr built in from the start. Scale and efficiency of the conversion might have to wait until the next FMC for the Ioniq 5 in 2028 unless Waymo can support large and early capital infusion to accelerate the effort.

It is interesting what the reality of real competition does. Tesla has no need to take on liability.When and if FAD is approved for general use in China, maybe it will become necessary. The reality is China is a full-blown competitive market while the US is a backwater for NEVs in comparison. This was intentional and the regulatory capture was for sale in the last election for a bargain price.

What do people think about this? Will this change anytime soon? My opinion is the horse is out of the barn. China makes 70% of the EVs and that will likely grow. The US market might be 7.5% and that is mostly Tesla. More than half of the Tesla's are made in China already and their pricing for export markets make them relevant as an exporter. My sense is whether it is renewable energy, pharmaceuticals or BEVs these are macrotrends.

A new law in the State of TX took effect on 28-MAY-2026 that gave the public another birdseye view into the operation of autonomous taxis. The Texas DMV now REQUIRES autonomous taxi providers to register their vehicles in the state. It was THRILLING that the State of TX has provided a portal that lets the public review what is happening on their public roads! In my experience real and reliable data sources are the only way to get a read on real progress rather than social media tweets. I was surprised how much could be learned from this new site!!! All of the companies must provide their vehicles and full VINs for the compliant taxi vehicles.

1. On launch day for the site, Waymo registered 5577 vehicles in the State of Texas
2. By today (June 1st) the number expanded to 619 vehicles
3. Based on the VINs, I noted at least 45 Zeekr RTs amongst the registrations.

I just checked for the April 2026 reporting in NHTSA SGO ADS reporting. Tesla RETROACTIVELY became open to scrutiny by SCRUBBING their redaction history of their ADS incidents in Austin and provided public facing narratives to their accident reporting!

This is a massive change of heart and I think it is a positive development. What does everyone think of this?