TL;DR
Until now, most self-driving taxis have started life as ordinary cars that were later fitted with sensors and computers. Toyota now says it will build a robotaxi for Waymo with the self-driving hardware installed right on its own assembly line in Japan. That sounds like a factory detail, but it may be the part that decides how fast driverless rides spread. Waymo already sells rides in 15 U.S. metros, and the thing holding it back is not software but a steady supply of cars. A robotaxi that rolls off a mass-production line ready to drive itself is how driverless rides could go from patches of American cities to Tokyo, London and beyond. Testing in Japan is set for 2027, aimed at driverless taxi rides in Tokyo; production numbers and prices have not been given, and Japan still has to approve it. Our odds that a driverless Waymo ride is open to the public in Tokyo: 88%, likely by 2028. To see a breakdown of those odds and the timeline of steps toward driverless rides in Tokyo, subscribe.
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