Alphabet CEO says company exploring private sales of Waymo cars

Toward the end of an earnings call Thursday, the CEO of Waymo’s parent company made an off-handed remark that stoked a fever dream: Some day, he suggested, regular people might be able to buy their own robot cars.

“There is future optionality around personal ownership,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive of the global tech conglomerate Alphabet, during the question-and-answer portion of the call.

Pichai’s remarks elicit new questions about how Waymo will shape mobility in the coming years, and about whether it will transform our social connections. 

While many consumers have long fantasized about buying a car that could squire kids to soccer practice, or serve as a permanent designated driver, others suggest that robotaxis could lead us in the opposite direction. Some techno-optimists envision a transportation system with no need for private car ownership, if people can always hail an autonomous vehicle.

Among that camp is William Riggs, a professor of engineering and management at the University of San Francisco who studies autonomous vehicles. He described Waymo as a tech company that operates quite differently from a traditional automotive manufacturer. 

“If you look at the co-CEOs of Waymo, they’ve been very strategic,” Riggs said. “They’re looking at selling software, whether it’s to someone driving a bus or a lightweight shuttle.” 

He noted, further, that the cost to produce one of the Waymo taxis that roll around San Francisco is far more than the average person could afford. Waymo’s fleet of SUVs, built in partnership with the luxury car company Jaguar, comprise many parts that are fabricated overseas and shipped, and would be subject to multiple tariffs, Riggs said.

“The minimum cost (for a self-driving Waymo vehicle) is $250,000, and that’s being super generous,” Riggs said. “The bigger profit argument is leading away from car (ownership). A hundred percent.”

Cameron Gieda, a mobility executive who specializes in autonomous vehicles, foresees a world in which Waymo licenses its software to various automotive manufacturers. Many of them aim to produce self-driving vehicles within the next decade, Gieda said. And one company — Hyundai — may release something on the mass market.

Demand for personal self-driving cars already exists, Gieda said. 

“Imagine if you could just send your kids to school with the car and not have to deal with it,” he said, noting that at some point, beleaguered parents will get their wish.

Indeed, a spokesperson for Waymo, signaled that the trajectory of autonomous vehicles could ultimately lead to the scenario that many Americans want: a robot parked in the driveway.

“Waymo is developing its generalizable Waymo Driver for multiple applications, focusing on ride-hailing first, with future plans to deploy the technology across delivery, trucking and personal car ownership,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement. 

But getting there won’t be easy, Gieda warned. Anyone who buys an autonomous vehicle today would need a robust, high definition map of every place they wanted to drive it. All of those places would need to be approved by regulators. It’s still unclear whether the vehicle would be eligible for car insurance.

For the time being, Pichai emphasized that Waymo is focused on its ride-hail ventures, trying to improve the cars’ safety and build “the world’s best driver,” while “widely exploring” many business and technological paths.