Call an Uber in Phoenix and you might get a driverless Waymo, starting today
Waymo and Uber have rolled out a partnership in Phoenix wherein riders who order an Uber within Waymo’s service area might get picked up by a driverless Waymo vehicle, rather than a human-driven Uber car, starting today.
Waymo, Google’s driverless taxi arm, has been gradually rolling out its service to more members of the public and more locations recently. We rode it in Los Angeles earlier this month, where it is currently “touring” around the city and operating on a trial basis.
But its Phoenix service area is much larger – a total of 225 square miles – and has been running since 2017, in some capacity or another. In Phoenix, Waymo even services the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport for pickups and dropoffs.
So its service in Phoenix is more developed than elsewhere, to the point where Waymo and Uber now find themselves comfortable enough to offer driverless taxis to any random rider who requests an Uber pickup.
But if you order a human, you won’t be surprised to have an empty car pick you up. First, your pickup and dropoff points both have to be in Waymo’s service area, of course.
The area generally covers the area between downtown Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa, and Chandler, including the aforementioned Phoenix Sky Harbor airport.
So, you order a car, with whatever pricing Uber has decided on for the time being (which suggests pricing will be identical between human and driverless taxis). Then, if the system finds a Waymo car that is convenient for your pickup, the app will give you a notification saying that a Waymo has been chosen for you, which you have the option to accept or decline. This is what the whole process looks like:
After accepting the driverless ride, the flow goes somewhat similar to how Waymo’s first-party Waymo One app works – the car decides where the best place to pick you up is, and may ask you to walk a short distance to that pickup point (it tries to avoid places that are busy and confusing – you can read more about that in our detailed log of our ride in LA). Then you need to unlock the car from within the Uber app when it arrives, hop in, and you’re off.
The system requires no additional registration with Waymo One, doesn’t require having that app on your phone, and doesn’t require any special settings within Uber’s app. If you want to be picked up by a Waymo, you can go into the “ride preferences” section of your Uber app and check a setting that will increase your chances.
Electrek’s Take
There are a lot of interesting notes to be had about this news.
Uber previously had a self-driving technology arm operating both in California and Arizona, but that arm was sold off in 2020 after a lot of setbacks. One of those setbacks included a lawsuit between Waymo and Uber over trade secrets (for which some legal action is still ongoing), so this partnership between the two companies, first announced in May and bearing fruit today, is curious given that context.
It’s also interesting that these Ubers look like they will be the same price whether you get a driver or not… at least for now?
One of the potential benefits of self-driving taxis is that they can save on labor costs, both making it cheaper and easier to get around and freeing up man-hours to increase productivity elsewhere in society.
With self-driving tech in its infancy, sensors and systems to run them are expensive, so we may not be there yet. But this also raises the specter of the possibility that as humans are made redundant, the pay that used to go to these humans will instead go to the owners of robots.
This runs the risk of concentrating wealth into the hands of few capital owners who own the driving robots, rather than the laborers who used to make money from driving, which is not a good thing for society. “Driver” is, after all, one of the most common job titles in the US, so while the potential societal gains are high from automation here, those gains need to be distributed properly or else there are going to be a lot of angry people with nothing to do.
We’re seeing the same conversation had throughout many industries with the advent of AI, and societally we really aren’t ready for this. Some of the more forward-thinking members of the tech industry have called for a “basic income” as a result, though others question if this is just a cynical ploy to undermine the current welfare state of targeted assistance to the needy.
Either way, this is something that we needed to talk about yesterday, and nobody’s having an adult conversation about it, and that’s a problem.
Instead, the conversation has focused on oft-sensationalized rhetoric about the safety of autonomous vehicles. Just this week, Cruise’s license to operate in California was revoked as a result of an accident earlier this month where the Cruise car was not initially at fault, but responded poorly in the post-accident scenario, and Cruise misrepresented facts to the DMV in attempting to cover-up the poor decisionmaking of its vehicle.
The reason for that cover-up is probably because Cruise wanted to avoid the societal flack it knew it would get. And that flack spills over to other AVs, Waymo included, which is unfortunate since Waymo does seem to have a better safety/reliability/responsibility record than Cruise – so far.
In short, there are a lot of difficult conversations to have here as a society related to the advent of AI, and how it can benefit everyone, but they really aren’t served by sensationalism. And the longer we put off having those conversations, the more technology is going to keep progressing, whether we want it to or not (and we should – we should just want it to happen responsibly for all of society).
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Believe it or not, you can lease an EV for under $200 a month. New deals on models like the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 are hard to pass up this month.
Electric vehicles have been all over the news lately, with the Trump administration threatening to end federal incentives and introducing new tariffs that are expected to lead to higher prices.
On the positive side, new EV models are arriving, giving buyers more options and driving prices down. Many automakers reported record US electric car sales in the first three months of 2024.
GM remained the number two seller of EVs behind Tesla after sales doubled in Q1 2025. With the new Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs rolling out, Chevy is now the fastest-growing EV brand in the US. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is off to its best sales start since launching, with over 11,600 models sold in the first quarter.
With the 2025 models rolling out and about 15 new EVs arriving this year, many automakers are introducing steep discounts to move vehicles off the lot.
EVs for lease for under $200 a month in April
Although the decade-old Nissan LEAF remains one of the most affordable this April at just $149 per month, there are a few EVs under $200 right now that are worth taking a look at.
The new 2025 Hyundai IONIQ might be the best EV deal this month, with leases as low as $199. Hyundai is currently promoting a 24-month lease deal with $3,999 due at signing.
Hyundai upgraded the electric SUV with a bigger battery for more range (now up to 318 miles), a sleek new look inside and out, and it now comes with an NACS port so you can charge it at Tesla Superchargers.
The offer is for the IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range, which has a driving range of up to 245 miles. For just $229 a month, you can snag the SE RWD model, which has a range of up to 318 miles and a more powerful (225 horsepower) electric motor. It’s also a 24-month lease with $3,999 due at signing.
To sweeten the deal, Hyundai is offering a free ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 EV charger with the purchase or lease of any 2024 or 2025 IONIQ 5. If you already have one, you can opt for a $400 public charging credit.
After slashing lease prices this month, the 2025 Nissan Ariya is actually cheaper than the LEAF in some regions. In Southern California, the 2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD is listed at just $129 per month. The AWD model has a range of up to 272 miles.
The deal is for 36 months, with $4,409 due at signing. In April, Nissan cut Ariya lease prices to around $239 in most other parts of the country.
Kia has a few EVs available to lease for under $200 a month in April. The 2025 Kia Niro EV Wind is listed at just $129 for 24 months, with $3,999 due at signing. Kia’s crossover SUV has EPA-estimated range of 253 miles.
The 2024 EV6 may be worth considering at just $179 for 24 months ($3,999 due at signing). In California, the EV6 Light Long Range RWD is only slightly more than the Niro Wind.
In most other parts of the country, you can still find the EV6 for under $200 a month. The Light Long Range RWD trim offers up to 310 miles of EPA-estimated range.
| Lease Price | Term (months) |
Amount Due at Signing | Driving Range | |
| 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range | $199 | 24 | $3,999 | 245 miles |
| 2024 Kia EV6 Light Long Rang RWD | $179 | 24 | $3,999 | 310 miles |
| 2024 Kia Niro EV Wind | $129 | 24 | $3,999 | 253 miles |
| 2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD | $129 | 36 | $4,409 | 272 miles |
| 2025 Nissan LEAF S FWD | $149 | 36 | $2,629 | 149 miles |
| 2024 Fiat 500 INSPI(RED) | $199 | 24 | $2,999 | 149 miles |
And don’t forget the 2024 Fiat 500e, which is now listed at just $199 for 24 months with $2,999 due at signing. The electric hatchback offers a range of up to 149 miles.
If you are looking to spend a little more, check out our list of EVs you can lease for under $300 a month.
Ready to snag the savings while they are still here? At under $200 a month, some of these EV lease deals are hard to pass up right now. Check out our links below to find deals in your area.
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![The US’s first solar panels over canals pilot is now online [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Project-Nexus-solar-canal.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Project Nexus, the first solar panel canopies over irrigation canals in the US, is now online in California, and there are plans to expand the project to other areas.
Project Nexus is a $20 million pilot in central California’s Turlock Irrigation District launched in October 2022. The project team is exploring solar over canal design, deployment, and co-benefits using canal infrastructure and the electrical grid.
India already has solar panels over canals, but Project Nexus is the first of its kind in the US.
The Turlock Irrigation District was the first irrigation district formed in California in 1887. It provides irrigation water to 4,700 growers who farm around 150,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley.
Project Nexus will explore whether the solar panels reduce water evaporation as a result of midday shade and wind mitigation, create improvements to water quality through reduced vegetative growth, reduce canal maintenance as a result of reduced vegetative growth, and, of course, generate renewable electricity.
The California Department of Water Resources, utility company Turlock Irrigation District, Marin County, California-based water and energy project developer Solar AquaGrid, and The University of California, Merced, are partnering on the pilot. Project Nexus originated from a 2021 research project led by UC Merced alumna and project scientist Brandi McKuin.
Solar panels were installed at two sites over both wide- and narrow-span sections of Turlock Irrigation District canals in Stanislaus County, in various orientations. The sections range from 20 feet wide to 100 feet wide. University of California, Merced has positioned research equipment at both sites to collect baseline data so the researchers can decide where solar will work and where it won’t.
In February 2023, Project Nexus announced it would also deploy long-term iron flow battery storage in the form of two ESS 75kW turnkey “Energy Warehouse” batteries.
You can learn more about Project Nexus here:
Read more: In a US first, California will pilot solar-panel canopies over canals
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