Toyota (TM.US) and Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), plan to test autonomous electric vehicles in Japan in 2027

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Toyota Motor (TM.US) and Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), announced on Friday that they will begin testing autonomous electric vehicles in Japan in 2027, and plans to deploy them later in the UK and other potential markets.

Waymo's co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said Waymo will use cooperation with Toyota and Toyota BZ4x models to promote large-scale commercial operation of its autonomous driving technology. “We'll start with right-hand drive markets such as Japan and the UK,” Dolgov said. “I think the vision and strategic cooperation will expand to more markets, but there are currently no specific countries, timelines, or details to share.”

Toyota's chief technology officer Hiroki Nakajima said that Toyota also produces left-hand drive vehicles, including the BZ4x, and hopes to gain experience in Japan before pursuing a wider range of opportunities.

Toyota will manufacture these vehicles at its Takaoka plant in central Japan, where Waymo's autonomous driving hardware will also be installed. Dolgov said Waymo is currently testing Jaguar I-PACE vehicles in Japan and is still planning to use these vehicles for testing in 2027.

The two companies did not disclose how many BZ4x will initially be deployed, nor in which regions of Japan they will operate. Nakajima said the initial operation will involve a small number of vehicles.

Toyota and Waymo first announced in April 2025 that they will explore collaborating to develop a new autonomous vehicle platform.