Waymo plans to go from 4,000 to 20,000 cars by the end of 2027

Waymo plans to expand its robotaxi fleet five-fold. It runs about 4,000 cars today and wants 8,000 by the end of this year and 20,000 by the end of 2027. The plan was reported as an exclusive and Waymo has not commented.

The money comes from roughly $5 billion Waymo borrowed earlier this month. The service currently runs in 15 US cities, with Toronto next, and thousands of vehicles from a Chinese carmaker are reportedly on order to supply the build-out.

For scale, an analyst study from August 2025 did not expect a 20,000-car fleet until 2030. This plan pulls that date forward by about three years.

Growing from 4,000 to 20,000 cars means building, charging, cleaning and servicing five times the fleet, in more cities, while keeping the safety record that lets regulators say yes. Uber and Lyft shares dipped slightly in after-hours trading after the report, a sign investors see robotaxis as a threat to ride-hailing apps that rely on human drivers.

Our take

The hard part is no longer driving, it is operating. Depots, charging and cleaning crews are the bottleneck, and debt is how you buy your way past it.