Waymo’s Greatest Yr But Begins With Driverless Rides In Miami

January 23, 2026

30

The robotaxi race within the U.S. is heating up actual quick with a number of gamers competing for a slice of the ride-hailing market. However there’s one firm that continues to drag away from the pack: Waymo. The Alphabet-owned agency stated Thursday it has entered one other U.S. metropolis, with many extra launches lined up this 12 months.

Welcome again to Vital Suppliesyour every day round-up of stories and occasions shaping up the world of electrical automobiles and know-how. Additionally on the menu immediately: EVs gross sales barely dipped in California final 12 months, however hybrids continued to surge. And a Chinese language EV maker is eyeing the Canadian automobile market underneath the brand new tariff regime.

Let’s start.

25%: Waymo’s Greatest Yr Of Development But Begins In Miami

Waymo’s growth throughout the U.S. is exhibiting no indicators of slowing. The Alphabet-owned firm launched its driverless ride-hailing service in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, marking growth into its sixth U.S. metropolis, with a number of extra already within the pipeline.

Not everybody in Miami can hail a Waymo simply but. The corporate stated roughly 10,000 residents have already signed as much as journey in its lidar-equipped Jaguar I-Tempo electrical crossovers. New riders will probably be invited in waves because it scales up the native fleet with extra automobiles.

The corporate is quietly revolutionizing how individuals in cities get round. By mid-December, Waymo logged over 20 million paid driverless rides and was averaging practically half 1,000,000 weekly journeys throughout San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta.

Miami will push these numbers even greater in what’s going to doubtless be Waymo’s most aggressive development 12 months but, if every part goes as deliberate. The robotaxis will initially serve a roughly 60-square-mile space, masking neighborhoods such because the Design District and Coral Gables, with plans to finally embrace Miami Worldwide Airport.

And the growth doesn’t cease there. Waymo plans so as to add over 20 cities to its community this 12 months, together with its first entry into colder, snowy cities like Detroit and Washington, D.C.

Waymo’s epic push is going on as Tesla begins to get its personal driverless efforts off the bottom. It began providing rides with no human security monitor by way of its Robotaxi service in Austin on Thursday.

50%: Hybrids Acquire In California As EV Gross sales Cool

Picture by: Toyota

Earlier this week, Senior Editor Tim Levin recapped California’s newest EV milestone of greater than 2.5 million items offered cumulatively through the years. However zoom in on 2025 and the image seems a bit completely different from the years that got here earlier than.

A brand new report from the California New Automobile Sellers Affiliation (CNCDA) reveals that 378,216 zero-emissions automobiles (ZEVs) have been registered in California final 12 months, down about 2% from the 12 months earlier than.

However hybrids picked up the slack in a giant method. Registrations of hybrids (excluding plug-in hybrids) jumped 36% to greater than 350,000 items, giving them practically a 20% share of the state’s total automobile market.

EVs, hybrids and plug-in hybrids collectively accounted for 44% of all new automobile gross sales in California final 12 months. In the meantime, light-duty gasoline automobiles continued their gradual retreat, with their market share slipping from 59.7% to 56.2%.

As ever, there have been clear winners and losers. Tesla’s registrations fell 11.4% to 179,656 items, whereas Toyota moved in the other way, posting an 11.6% improve to greater than 322,000 registrations.

On the mannequin degree, acquainted names dominated their very own segments. The Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Tesla Mannequin 3, Toyota RAV4 and Ford F-Collection vans every emerged as bestsellers of their respective classes.

75%: Chery Eyes Canada Entry Thanks To Decrease Tariffs

Picture by: Chery

Chinese language automakers are eyeing a push into North America after Canada lowered its tariffs on Chinese language-made EVs from a prohibitively costly 100% to only 6.1% final week.

Chery, China’s third-largest automaker by gross sales final 12 months, is now jockeying to develop into the primary from China to enter the Canadian market underneath the brand new tariff panorama, The Globe and Mail reported Thursday citing sources accustomed to the matter.

Right here’s extra from that story:

The recruiters all say, in messages seen by The Globe, that they wish to rent for a number of roles that will help Chery’s growth into Canada. In some instances, the recruiters particularly point out Chery’s subbrands Omoda and Jaecoo.

The messages counsel Chery is hiring for all the important thing roles wanted to construct a Canadian gross sales operation from scratch. The messages additionally stated Chery will open an workplace within the Toronto space and that the transfer was a part of the corporate’s “long-term resolution to take a position and develop its enterprise in Canada.”

Apart from Chery, BYD can be reportedly in discussions with Canadian officers a few potential market entry. It’s more and more wanting like will probably be solely a matter of time earlier than high-tech and competitively costs Chinese language EVs start rolling onto Canadian roads.

Whereas that prospect is nice information for EV consumers within the nation, it stays to be seen how these EVs will really carry out within the market. Chinese language automakers might be able to lure new consumers on value and know-how. However conserving them loyal could be an entire completely different problem.