GoKawiilSelf-driving cars are slowly becoming less sci-fi and more real-world as companies such as Waymo rapidly expand into more areas.
Waymo, which is owned by Google's parent Alphabet, now operates fully autonomous rides in a handful of cities across the US, with dozens more on the horizon, including in international locations. It first rolled out in areas with more temperate climates including Phoenix and San Francisco. But Waymo's latest autonomous driving tech has allowed it to expand testing to cities with harsh winters, such as Minneapolis and Detroit, as well as rainy cities like Seattle and London.
Passengers can hail a ride either via the Waymo app or Uber (or both), depending on the city. In November, Waymo began driving passengers on freeways in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, which can help to speed up journeys.
Rides for the public currently happen aboard the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace, which uses Waymo's fifth-generation autonomous driving technology. But Waymo is also deploying its modified Zeekr vehicle -- dubbed Ojai -- equipped with the sixth-generation Waymo Driver, which taps into AI advancements to detect more details and gauge objects in a variety of lighting and weather conditions, Waymo said in a blog post.
The self-driving company has added several new cities to its roster in recent months. In an Aug. 29 blog post, Waymo noted it's "entering a new chapter and accelerating our commercial expansion." Below, you can find a full list of where Waymo currently operates and plans to expand.
Waymo's driverless technology evolves
Waymo has started fully autonomous operations with its latest, sixth-generation self-driving technology, which is built to handle extreme winter weather while scaling back costs.
The updated vision system on the sixth-generation Waymo Driver can find details in deep shadows or while being hit with high beams, and it requires fewer cameras thanks to higher-resolution image sensors. Waymo's lidar sensors have gotten better at painting a 3D picture of the car's surroundings in various weather conditions, and the company's latest radar sensors use new algorithms to better track the distance, speed and size of objects in rain or snow. This is critical as it expands to areas with variable and extreme climates, such as the Midwest.
Waymo is currently testing fully autonomous trips using the sixth-generation driver with employees in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles before eventually opening the service up to the public. The sixth-generation Waymo Driver is initially being deployed on the Ojai, a modified Zeekr vehicle, before eventually making its way to the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Waymo's newest vehicle, dubbed Ojai, is a modified Zeekr equipped with the company's latest sixth-generation self-driving technology. Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET
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