Chinese automakers are now the de facto global standard for electric vehicles. BYD is outselling Tesla with highly affordable models. Consumer electronics giant Xiaomi is rolling out stylish sedans and SUVs outfitted with dizzying in-cabin infotainment tech. But staggeringly high tariffs, hovering at 127.5% for Chinese-built EVs, have kept those cars largely out of American driveways.
But they have not kept them out of Waymo’s fast-growing U.S. robotaxi fleet.
In late May, Alphabet’s self-driving vehicle company began deploying small electric vans, built by China’s Zeekr brand–which it calls the Waymo Ojai–in cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco. At the time, Waymo would only say it had “more than 100” of the friendly-faced, periwinkle-colored minivans on the road. Most industry watchers assumed the Mountain View, California-based company would ultimately operate fewer than 1,000 owing to the excessive import fees. That’s not the case.
Since 2024, Zeekr has shipped more than 3,200 units of its CM1e, its Chinese market name, through the Port of Los Angeles, including over 2,600 so far this year, based on Bills of Lading data compiled by research firm ImportGenius. While Waymo isn’t identified as the recipient, Zeekr doesn’t have any other U.S. partner. If they were imported at the CM1e’s Chinese market price of $39,000, tariffs would drive the cost up to nearly $89,000, excluding the cost of Waymo’s autonomous driving hardware that likely exceeds $10,000.
That 3,200 units “is an ‘at least’ figure based on documents sourced directly from U.S. Customs that identify either Zeekr or the model of vehicle,” William George, director of research analyst for ImportGenius, told Forbes. The declared value of the vehicles isn’t included, however.
“The market assumes Waymo’s future with the Ojai is a dead-end due to tariffs on Chinese auto imports; so did we,” Michael Morton, a research analyst with MoffettNathanson, said in a recent investment report. “To be frank, we were surprised by what we found.”
His firm estimates Waymo imports an average of 300 Zeekrs per month, also using data from ImportGenius. That level is “materially higher” than what investors assumed, he said.
Waymo declined to confirm the import tally and how much it’s paying for vehicles.
“At this stage, we are serving early access riders across SF, LA and Phoenix with over 300 Ojais,” said company spokesman Chris Bonelli. “We are already in 11 cities with ambitious plans to serve dozens more, and the Ojai will be a big part of our scaling efforts.”
Certainly the company, which has raised far more than $20 billion since it began as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, can afford the inflated price of the Ojai, though it complicates the company’s push to lower costs to help achieve profitability. The industry’s leading robotaxi company already operates its commercial service in 11 U.S. cities and is preparing to launch in four more. It’s also taking the service abroad, with testing in Tokyo and London.
Waymo announced plans to add electric vans from Zeekr, a unit of China’s Geely Auto, in late 2021, noting that the model was styled in Sweden with Geely-backed Volvo Cars. But that was before a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs took effect, on top of a standard 2.5% duty on all imported autos, and a 25% feed for certain “strategic” products, including autos, auto parts, aluminum and steel.
Adding 3,200 or more Zeekr models would dramatically expand Waymo’s fleet, which totaled about 3,900 units as of last month, including test vehicles, comprised mainly of electric Jaguar I-Pace SUVs. That product, however, has been discontinued. Along with Zeekrs, Waymo is also preparing to add modified versions of Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq 5 electric hatchback, built at the automaker’s Georgia plant. Waymo currently books more than 500,000 paid rides a week, and is targeting 1 million per week by year-end. If it hits that level, annual revenue in 2027 would top $1 billion based on an estimated average fare of $20 per ride. That’s far beyond what any U.S. competitor is likely to generate. But to do that, it needs a lot more vehicles.
Given that it’s a high-profile partnership for Zeekr, an EV brand owned by China’s Geely Auto, and the excess production capacity of that country’s automakers, Waymo is probably paying far less than the $39,000 charged in China for a CM1e, said Tu Le, managing director of consultancy Sino Auto Insights.
“My guess is they’re getting it super cheap from Zeekr–at a big discount,” Le said. “Also, Geely could be eating some of that tariff since Waymo’s kind of stuck. Their AV stack was designed specifically for Ojai prior to all these tariffs and connected vehicle restrictions.”
The Waymo model will soon get electric van competition from Amazon’s Zoox, which just received federal permission to operate its purpose-built robotaxis that don’t have steering wheels, pedals or mirrors on public roads. Zoox builds the four-passenger vehicles, with sliding, train-style doors, at a small Silicon Valley factory. They’ll soon begin ferrying paying customers in Las Vegas, with San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities to follow.
While the current number of Ojais on U.S. roads probably isn’t high at the moment, the minivan is already becoming a key platform for both Waymo and Alphabet. Its sliding doors on each side of the vehicle and flat floor make it easier to enter and exit than the Jaguars, and it has a roomier passenger cabin. It’s also using what Waymo calls its 6th-generation hardware set, with improved vision and computing power at 50% less cost than the 5th-generation system used in the I-Pace. Waymo has not, however, confirmed the cost of the new system.
Last week, the company also said it’s integrating Google’s Gemini AI chatbot into the Ojai fleet, activated with the touch of a button in new rear seat screens. It allows riders to use voice commands to control cabin temperature, get information about neighborhoods they’re passing through or even ask the vehicle to pull over.
Tariffs aren’t the only barrier. To ensure compliance with U.S. security laws aimed at Chinese companies, Zeekr units have to come in without any sensors or computing systems, which Waymo installs at its factory in Mesa, Arizona.
“The technology that collects data and makes our vehicles autonomous—the software, sensors, and computing systems—is developed in the U.S.,” spokeswoman Sandy Karp told Forbes. “Waymo installs the autonomous driving technology on stripped-down, disconnected OEM-provided vehicles in our Arizona manufacturing facility.”
To be permitted for use on U.S. roads, Waymo also has to ensure the Zeekrs have been crash-tested and meet federal safety standards. “We prioritize partners who share our obsession with safety,” she said. “Every vehicle in our fleet is chosen for its high safety rating and structural integrity.”
Given that the partnership was formed about six years ago, it’s likely Waymo didn’t want to scrap the deal, even with the tariffs, because it’s been tailoring its system for the Ojai, said analyst Le.
“They may have done a calculation and said, ‘for us to redesign the entire hardware stack for a similar vehicle that offers the flexibility that Ojai does, and the space, it might end up costing us something like $100,000 per vehicle if we switched to an electric van like the Volkswagen ID. Buzz,” he said. “That’s a heavy lift.”
