Waymo taps Toyota's bZ4X for robotaxi tests in Japan, UK

Under the deal announced Friday, Toyota will build the 2027 bZ4X — badged the BZ in North America — at its Takaoka plant in Japan, folding in Waymo’s self-driving system there. Waymo will begin testing the autonomous vehicles there next year, the first step in a partnership meant to supply EVs for robotaxi operations across international markets.

Japan comes first because Waymo eventually wants to run a robotaxi service there, but the plan extends to other right-hand-drive markets, starting with the U.K. Waymo has already logged months of testing with autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in London and means to start a robotaxi service there once it clears the necessary permits.

The deal comes 18 months after a far vaguer preliminary agreement between the two companies — one worded loosely enough to leave room for interpretation. For now, it reads as a standard vehicle-supply arrangement that fills a regional need for Waymo and adds a model to its robotaxi lineup. But the companies say they’ll also keep exploring whether Waymo’s self-driving technology could reach personally owned Toyota vehicles, plus future safety “initiatives” drawing on Waymo’s real-world driving data. Toyota executive vice president and board member Hiroki Nakajima said the collaboration “will help scale that technology and bring it to customers in Japan and beyond through Waymo’s ride-hailing service.”

Why it matters

The deal gives Waymo a dedicated EV supplier for its most capital-intensive expansion markets, while leaving the door open for Toyota to extend Waymo’s self-driving technology beyond robotaxi fleets into vehicles people actually own.