Waymo might be willing to sell you a self-driving car, says Sundar Pichai

The Alphabet CEO said “personal ownership” of Waymo’s lidar-equipped cars is an option long-term.

Waymo may sell autonomous vehicles for personal ownership at some point in the future, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said during an earnings call last night. Pichai was asked about the long-term business model for Waymo, and he responded that it includes expanding partnerships like it has with Moove in Miami and Uber in Austin and, soon, Atlanta, but also mentioned “future optionality around personal ownership.”

It’s not the first time Waymo extended the idea to sell you a self-driving car. Back in 2018 it swung a deal with Chrysler to build self-driving Pacifica minivans and the companies began discussions about how to eventually sell them as privately owned ones.

And Waymo isn’t the only company thinking about selling you a personal self-driving car. Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared at the “We, Robot” event last year that people can buy a Cybercab for $30,000 by 2026. During Tesla’s earnings call on Tuesday, Musk quipped that robotaxis built by competitor Waymo “cost way more money” compared to the Cybercab. Tesla’s robotaxi seats two, lacks a steering wheel, and uses camera vision instead of the intricate set of sensors, including lidar, that are equipped in Waymo’s most common five-seater Jaguar I-Pace EVs.

Waymo does have way more operational robotaxis on the road compared to Tesla, which has none. Waymo recently expanded testing to Japan, and Tesla plans to introduce robotaxis in Austin this summer as Musk promises “millions” of autonomous Tesla cars will be active by the end of next year.

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