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Waymo launches transit credit pilot in Los Angeles

Credit: Waymo

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Waymo has launched a transit credit pilot program in Los Angeles, following initial tests in San Francisco last year.

On Tuesday, Waymo announced in a press release that it is launching a two-month pilot program in the Southern California city, which will essentially pay $3.00 credits to riders who connect to seven eligible transit stations. The company, which is backed by Google’s parent company Alphabet, will run the program from February 4 through April 1, offering convenient routes to and from the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

In the announcement, the company says that credits will be added to rider accounts on the day following the ride, and they’ll then be usable for 60 days. Waymo also highlights the launch of the program arriving on Transit Equity Day, a holiday honoring civil rights hero Rosa Parks, whose birthday was on February 4.

The program will be used to study how Waymo One is used by riders as a first- and last-mile ride-hailing solution that it hopes to help integrate with public transportation options to make them more accessible. It says it also performed similar evaluations through its pilot program in San Francisco, which launched in October.

LA stations participating in the program are located at the following intersections/transit sites, as can also be seen on the map below:

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  • 5th and Arizona
  • Lincoln and Jefferson
  • Lincoln and Venice
  • Sepulveda and Exposition
  • Sepulveda and Washington
  • Union Station and FlyAway
  • UCLA Gateway

Credit: Waymo

READ MORE ON WAYMO: Waymo study analyzes collisions with vulnerable road users

Waymo, Tesla and commercial robotaxi services

Waymo One is the service and app the company uses for its driverless electric robotaxis, which currently offers paid rides to users in the Bay Area and around Los Angeles, as well as in Phoenix, Arizona and Austin, Texas. The company began paid LA rides in November, officially dropping the need for users to join a waitlist to ride.

In all of the aforementioned areas, users simply need to download the Waymo One app to hail a ride. The company has also announced plans to launch in Miami, Florida in the coming months.

Additionally, the firm says it’s operating 150,000 paid rides each week, resulting in a weekly reduction of over 220 tons of carbon emissions, and up from its 100,000 rides per week announced in August. In December, the company also announced plans to launch a pilot program in Japan, slated to begin this year.

Waymo is currently the only driverless ride-hailing company operating paid rides at such a large scale, with competitors like Amazon-owned Zoox rolling out initial services. Meanwhile, Tesla aims to begin offering unsupervised robotaxi services in June, following its unveiling of the steering wheel-less, two-seat Cybercab in October.

In addition to the Cybercab, which is expected to offer a similar paid ride-hailing service to Waymo One, Tesla currently sells its Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, which the autonomous vehicle will utilize, as either a monthly subscription or one-time purchase to owners.

Tesla also teased a ride-hailing app interface as early as last April in its Q1 earnings Shareholder Deck, showing off a user’s ability to summon rides, set temperature controls in the vehicle, and follow along with navigation. Such a service has also been promised to Tesla owners for several years, and it’s eventually expected to let them deploy their own personal vehicles to autonomously give rides and generate income when not in use.

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Waymo valued at over $45 billion following latest financing round: report

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Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Cybertruck

Tesla updates Cybertruck owners about key Powershare feature

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is updating Cybertruck owners on its timeline of a massive feature that has yet to ship: Powershare with Powerwall.

Powershare is a bidirectional charging feature exclusive to Cybertruck, which allows the vehicle’s battery to act as a portable power source for homes, appliances, tools, other EVs, and more. It was announced in late 2023 as part of Tesla’s push into vehicle-to-everything energy sharing, and acting as a giant portable charger is the main advantage, as it can provide backup power during outages.

Cybertruck’s Powershare system supports both vehicle-to-load (V2L) and vehicle-to-home (V2H), making it flexible and well-rounded for a variety of applications.

However, even though the feature was promised with Cybertruck, it has yet to be shipped to vehicles. Tesla communicated with owners through email recently regarding Powershare with Powerwall, which essentially has the pickup act as an extended battery.

Powerwall discharge would be prioritized before tapping into the truck’s larger pack.

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However, Tesla is still working on getting the feature out to owners, an email said:

“We’re writing to let you know that the Powershare with Powerwall feature is still in development and is now scheduled for release in mid-2026. 

This new release date gives us additional time to design and test this feature, ensuring its ability to communicate and optimize energy sharing between your vehicle and many configurations and generations of Powerwall. We are also using this time to develop additional Powershare features that will help us continue to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

Owners have expressed some real disappointment in Tesla’s continuous delays in releasing the feature, as it was expected to be released by late 2024, but now has been pushed back several times to mid-2026, according to the email.

Foundation Series Cybertruck buyers paid extra, expecting the feature to be rolled out with their vehicle upon pickup.

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Cybertruck’s Lead Engineer, Wes Morrill, even commented on the holdup:

He said that “it turned out to be much harder than anticipated to make powershare work seamlessly with existing Powerwalls through existing wall connectors. Two grid-forming devices need to negotiate who will form and who will follow, depending on the state of charge of each, and they need to do this without a network and through multiple generations of hardware, and test and validate this process through rigorous certifications to ensure grid safety.”

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It’s nice to see the transparency, but it is justified for some Cybertruck owners to feel like they’ve been bait-and-switched.

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Tesla’s northernmost Supercharger in North America opens

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has opened its northernmost Supercharger in Fairbanks, Alaska, with eight V4 stalls located in one of the most frigid cities in the U.S.

Located just 196 miles from the Arctic Circle, Fairbanks’s average temperature for the week was around -12 degrees Fahrenheit. However, there are plenty of Tesla owners in Alaska who have been waiting for more charging options out in public.

There are only 36 total Supercharger stalls in Alaska, despite being the largest state in the U.S.

Eight Superchargers were added to Fairbanks, which will eventually be a 48-stall station. Tesla announced its activation today:

The base price per kWh is $0.43 at the Fairbanks Supercharger. Thanks to its V4 capabilities, it can charge at speeds up to 325 kW.

Despite being the northernmost Supercharger in North America, it is not even in the Top 5 northernmost Superchargers globally, because Alaska is south of Norway. The northernmost Supercharger is in Honningsvåg, Norway. All of the Top 5 are in the Scandanavian country.

Tesla’s Supercharger expansion in 2025 has been impressive, and although it experienced some early-quarter slowdowns due to V3-to-V4 hardware transitions, it has been the company’s strongest year for deployments.

Through the three quarters of 2025, the company has added 7,753 stations and 73,817 stalls across the world, a 16 percent increase in stations and an 18 percent increase in stalls compared to last year.

Tesla is on track to add over 12,000 stalls for the full year, achieving an average of one new stall every hour, an impressive statistic.

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Recently, the company wrapped up construction at its Supercharger Oasis in Lost Hills, California, a 168-stall Supercharger that Tesla Solar Panels completely power. It is the largest Supercharger in the world.

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Tesla shocks with latest Robotaxi testing move

Why Tesla has chosen to use a couple of Model S units must have a reason; the company is calculated in its engineering and data collection efforts, so this is definitely more than “we just felt like giving our drivers a change of scenery.”

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Credit: Sawyer Merritt | X

Tesla Model S vehicles were spotted performing validation testing with LiDAR rigs in California today, a pretty big switch-up compared to what we are used to seeing on the roads.

Tesla utilizes the Model Y crossover for its Robotaxi fleet. It is adequately sized, the most popular vehicle in its lineup, and is suitable for a wide variety of applications. It provides enough luxury for a single rider, but enough room for several passengers, if needed.

However, the testing has seemingly expanded to one of Tesla’s premium flagship offerings, as the Model S was spotted with the validation equipment that is seen entirely with Model Y vehicles. We have written several articles on Robotaxi testing mules being spotted across the United States, but this is a first:

Why Tesla has chosen to use a couple of Model S units must have a reason; the company is calculated in its engineering and data collection efforts, so this is definitely more than “we just felt like giving our drivers a change of scenery.”

It seems to hint that Tesla could add a premium, more luxury offering to its Robotaxi platform eventually. Think about it: Uber has Uber Black, Lyft has Lyft Black. These vehicles and services are associated with a more premium cost as they combine luxury models with more catered transportation options.

Tesla could be testing the waters here, and it could be thinking of adding the Model S to its fleet of ride-hailing vehicles.

Reluctant to remove the Model S from its production plans completely despite its low volume contributions to the overall mission of transitioning the world to sustainable energy, the flagship sedan has always meant something. CEO Elon Musk referred to it, along with its sibling Model X, as continuing on production lines due to “sentimental reasons.”

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However, its purpose might have been expanded to justify keeping it around, and why not? It is a cozy, premium offering, and it would be great for those who want a little more luxury and are willing to pay a few extra dollars.

Of course, none of this is even close to confirmed. However, it is reasonable to speculate that the Model S could be a potential addition to the Robotaxi fleet. It’s capable of all the same things the Model Y is, but with more luxuriousness, and it could be the perfect addition to the futuristic fleet.

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