Waymo has previewed its new sixth-generation robotaxi, an electric minivan manufactured by the Chinese automaker Zeekr.
In a blog post, Waymo VP of engineering Satish Jeyachandran touts the new robotaxi as more high tech than past iterations, while also featuring fewer sensors to help reduce costs for the Alphabet-owned company, says The Verge. And within its high-powered computer, it contains all the learnings of the previous five generations of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles, meaning it won’t have to do as much real-world testing as past models before it can be rolled out to the public.
But looming over Waymo’s assertion that its new robotaxi will be cheaper to produce is the possibility that it could also be subject to costly new tariffs against Chinese-made electric vehicles. Earlier this year, the Biden administration said it would quadruple tariffs on EVs from China to 100 percent, from the current 25 percent, as a way to “protect American workers and American companies from China’s unfair trade practices.”
The cost savings discussed in Jeyachandran’s post are from the autonomy system and don’t take into account any macroeconomic conditions. In that area, the blog suggests that there are a number of other new features in the new vehicle that are worth highlighting.
Waymo says the sixth-generation robotaxi will feature a streamlined sensor suite of “16 cameras, 5 lidar, 6 radar, and an array of external audio receivers (EARs).” These sensors will help provide “overlapping fields of view, all around the vehicle, up to 500 meters away, day and night, and in a range of weather conditions.” That’s the equivalent of over five football pitches of visible range.
(Pic – Waymo)
