r/waymo

I am a trusted tester and I’ve been riding in the Ojais for months and providing detailed feedback about my experience in San Francisco. I usually get around with Muni, Waymo, and Lyft bikes, but I recently had an injury that prevents me from biking and with the recent Covid surge, I’ve been Waymo-ing a lot more than usual. Since Ojais were free for me until this Monday, I’ve spent a lot of time in them.

Over this time, I’ve observed them drive badly (edit: in terms of quality/braking/routing, not safety) at best, and dangerously at worst. They stop very hard and abruptly, sometimes for no reason. They take nonsensical routes, sometimes up to nearly doubling my trip time from the originally stated ETA despite no issues flagged on Google or Apple Maps. They inexplicably try to maneuver around moving traffic in some situations, and yet in others get fully stuck when there is nothing in the way. Literally this morning (edit: on a paid ride), I had an Ojai stop in the middle of a busy intersection for two light cycles before the support person got it to move because there was a large truck parked in street parking with hazards on, despite the truck being entirely in the parking spots and not even slightly blocking the Waymo’s lane. Edit for clarity: I expect this behavior in a testing phase and have been submitting feedback on experiences like this, but it’s rough for a public release.

To the company’s credit, they refunded that ride and gave me a credit off my next, so I feel that I was compensated fairly— but I’m so confused how these managed to get approved to run for the general public and how the company justifies charging the same price for both. In my experience with them, I find that they’re such a noticeable downgrade from the I-PACE in both quality and safety.

I’m curious if others share this sentiment, or if I’ve just had particularly bad luck, or if driving has degraded across the fleet and I’m biased because I’ve ridden in more Ojais recently.

Edited to remove #s

Email just came (I’m a trusted tester):

Ojai – fully autonomous for everyone
For months, your early access to the Ojai provided us with valuable feedback used to refine the experience even more. Now, thanks to you, the Ojai is ready for everyone in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

I'm curious, does it change any pricing metrics or are you paying the same prices you would without?

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.

I'm a daily commuter on Waymo for years. I've noticed a few times now the Waymos have smelled like urine. Today I hopped in the Waymo, rode for about halfway on my ride and asked support if possible to swap cars given the heavy hazardous smell of urine in the back. Their response was no and I can cancel the ride and they suggest I roll down my window. But they will give me a $10 credit. Ridiculous. Don't plan to ride Waymo again.

To get to Boston Logan Airport, a lot of traffic goes through the 1.6 mile, half underwater, Ted Williams tunnel. I belive that carriers put 5G nodes in the tunnel, but nonetheless, do you think Waymo is ready to handle challenges like that?