A man on TikTok recently shared a glimpse of a Waymo cruising through Los Angeles. In the clip, he filmed himself driving alongside one of the company’s autonomous vehicles, noting its sleeker design compared to some of the older robotaxis on the road.
“New Waymo on the streets of #LA,” Benjamin Illulian (@deals) captioned the video, which had drawn nearly 700 views by Saturday.
Not everyone was impressed. One commenter bluntly wrote, “Haaate.” But a few detractors haven’t slowed Waymo’s push into Los Angeles—or its plans to expand even further.
What’s Waymo?
It’s the company behind the self-driving technology powering Waymo One, a ride-hailing service that replaces human drivers with fully autonomous cars. The company says its mission is to make transportation safer, more accessible, and more sustainable—and it’s betting big that driverless cars are the future.
Waymo One operates similarly to Uber or Lyft. You open the app, summon a car, and get a ride to wherever you’re going—except there’s no one behind the wheel. The vehicles run on Waymo’s custom hardware and software, and although the service is currently limited to a few cities, expansion plans are already in place. Las Vegas and San Diego are on deck this year, with Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C., expected to follow in 2026.
Is There A New Waymo Model?
There is. MotorTrend reports that a fresh robotaxi has joined Waymo’s fleet—the Zeekr RT minivan. These are the same vans Illulian spotted in his viral clip. With this rollout, Zeekr became the first Chinese car brand to break into the U.S. market.
Some write-ups suggest the vans arrived earlier this year, but MotorTrend notes that customers can’t hail one just yet. That hasn’t stopped them from showing up in Los Angeles neighborhoods, apparently for charging and upkeep.
They also come packed with flashy features, making it likely you’ll start spotting more of them on the road soon. And when you open the Waymo app in the months ahead, don’t be surprised if one pulls up.
Is Waymo New To Los Angeles?
According to CNBC, Waymo’s full commercial robotaxi service officially launched in Los Angeles in November 2024, opening its autonomous vehicles to the public through the Waymo One app. The rollout first covered Santa Monica and parts of downtown before expanding to nearly 80 square miles across Los Angeles County.
The full launch in Los Angeles took more than a full year of testing and incremental expansion. In fall 2023, Waymo began offering rides to a small group of users in Los Angeles as part of its driverless trials. Then in March 2024, the service expanded more broadly, albeit still in a limited form, and the company began charging for rides shortly after before launching its full-scale debut in November.
“Now is an exciting time to welcome everyone in Los Angeles along for the ride,” Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, said at the time of the November launch. “Our service has matured quickly, and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving. We’re so grateful to all of our first riders in LA, and we can’t wait to serve more riders soon.”
There’s no evidence suggesting that the Waymo models in Los Angeles are different from those in, say, Austin or any other city where the robotaxis currently operate. One thing that’s unique about the Waymos in Los Angeles is that they’re aiming to run on freeways and, in some cases, are annoying residents.
How Are Los Angeles’ Residents Reacting?
According to The Los Angeles Times, Waymo has approximately 100 taxis on the road in Los Angeles, still limited to an 80-square-mile zone that stretches from Santa Monica and Marina del Rey to West Hollywood and downtown.
The cars recently gained the ability to drive on highways, a sign of expansion, but some residents say they’re already fed up. The Verge spoke with locals frustrated that certain Waymos have been parking in the same spots for hours at a time.
“It would always come back here, like a beacon,” one resident said. “Like it knew there was a spot here that it could take.”
Waymo says that’s intentional. A spokesperson told The Verge the cars find “appropriate parking spots to wait” between rides, whether in company facilities or on public streets. And if you live near a high-demand area, you’re more likely to have one camped out nearby.
“When Waymo vehicles are idle and don’t have charging or maintenance needs, they choose between parking in nearby spots or driving to areas of high demand,” the spokesperson said. “This allows us to best match ride-hailing demand and vehicle supply, while conserving energy and reducing traffic congestion.”
InsideEVs has reached out to Illulian via a direct message on TikTok.
