Waymo and Toyota plan to begin testing autonomous bZ4X vehicles in Japan in 2027.
Why it matters: The plan would give Waymo a Japan testing program and Toyota a path to integrate its vehicles with Waymo's autonomous-driving technology. The UK is a contemplated future market, not an announced testing location, and the companies have not set a commercial launch timetable.
- Toyota says it will build the bZ4X vehicles and integrate Waymo hardware at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City.
- Japan is the announced testing market, with testing and validation planned to begin in 2027.
- The UK is described as a potential later deployment market, while the initial fleet size and Japanese operating locations remain undisclosed.
- Toyota and Waymo call the planned ride-hailing platform Level 4, a company designation without disclosed operational-domain or regulatory-approval details.
Toyota and Waymo plan to begin testing and validating an autonomous Toyota bZ4X fleet in Japan in 2027. Toyota said the program is intended to support a fully autonomous ride-hailing service using domestically manufactured, high-volume production vehicles.
Toyota said it will build the battery-electric SUVs and integrate Waymo's autonomous-driving hardware at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. Waymo will provide the autonomous-driving technology, validation and intended robotaxi operations, according to the companies.
The initial fleet size and Japanese operating locations have not been disclosed. Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said, according to a Reuters report, that the companies would start with right-hand-drive markets in Japan and the UK. The announcement identifies Japan as the planned testing market; it does not establish a UK testing schedule.
Toyota and Waymo describe the planned bZ4X ride-hailing platform as Level 4 autonomy and say it is intended to provide a fully autonomous service. Those are company designations for the planned system. The companies have not disclosed an operational design domain or regulatory approval status.
The companies also envision later deployment in the UK and other markets where Waymo operates, but have not announced a commercial launch timetable. The project builds on earlier work to explore an autonomous-vehicle platform and Waymo technology for personally owned Toyota vehicles. Toyota and Waymo said they will continue that work alongside safety initiatives involving Woven by Toyota.
By the numbers
- 2027 - planned start of testing and validation in Japan
- Level 4 - autonomy designation used by Toyota and Waymo for the planned platform
- 2 - named right-hand-drive markets discussed in the Reuters report: Japan and the UK, though only Japan has an announced testing plan
Yes, but: The announcement covers a planned testing and validation program, not a commercial launch. The companies have not disclosed the fleet size, operating locations, operational design domain or regulatory approvals.
What's next: Toyota and Waymo plan to begin testing and validation in Japan in 2027. No commercial launch date or UK testing date has been announced.