Waymo enters Singapore in 2028, after Germany and Japan in 2027: the American robotaxis expand into Asia

Waymo, the Alphabet-owned robotaxi company, is entering Singapore, its first country in Southeast Asia. Fully autonomous public rides are planned for 2028, electrive reports. The plan was announced in Singapore on September 18, together with the Ministry of Transport and the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

The timeline

• In the coming months, the first modified electric Jaguar I-Pace cars arrive and Waymo sets up its local operations.
• In 2027, trained specialists will drive the cars manually to map the city and let the Waymo Driver system learn the local roads and monsoon rains. Waymo will use that data to seek LTA approval.
• In 2028, anyone should be able to book fully autonomous rides in the Waymo app.

Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said employees at Google's Singapore office could be the first riders. According to him, Singapore currently has 16 autonomous passenger vehicles, all in the Punggol district, and that number should grow to several hundred with Waymo. In the market, Waymo will meet Grab and ComfortDelGro, which already have autonomous driving projects.

The 2027 expansion

Singapore follows two other recently announced markets. In Japan, Waymo wants to launch commercial service in Tokyo in 2027, with taxi app operator GO and taxi company Nihon Kotsu. In Germany, Waymo cars have started driving in Munich, where public service is targeted for the end of 2027. The company has also announced plans for London.

In the US, Waymo already provides hundreds of thousands of paid rides a week and has passed 20 million rides in total.

For comparison, Tesla's Robotaxi only operates in the US for now. Where it runs and what comes next is in our Tesla Robotaxi map.