Element Fleet Management has agreed to a multi-year partnership with Waymo to manage autonomous vehicle fleets, beginning with an initial deployment in San Diego and expanding to additional markets over time. The collaboration runs through Element Mobility, the company’s intelligent-mobility unit, which will provide end-to-end fleet management and operational services for Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing operation. Element, a Toronto-based fleet manager that reports running more than 1.5 million vehicles globally, supplies the operational and infrastructure layer, while Waymo continues to own its self-driving technology and ride-hailing demand platform.
Highlights
- The multi-year agreement covers an initial Waymo deployment in San Diego, with expansion to additional markets planned over time.
- Element says it manages more than 1.5 million vehicles globally and identified over $1.6 billion in client cost-savings opportunities in the past year.
- Element’s scope spans vehicle lifecycle management, charging and energy management, maintenance coordination, and fleet optimization.
- Waymo reports more than 20 million paid trips across 10-plus cities and over 200 million autonomous miles on public roads in 15-plus U.S. states.
What Element Will Handle
Element’s role centers on keeping the fleet operational and available. The company will support the deployment through:
- Vehicle lifecycle management — overseeing the fleet from acquisition through service.
- Charging infrastructure and energy management — managing the energy layer for an electric AV fleet.
- Maintenance coordination — scheduling and routing service to limit downtime.
- Operational fleet optimization — using fleet data to maintain readiness and service reliability.
“Autonomous mobility succeeds through operational intelligence, disciplined execution, and the ability to perform reliably across markets,” said David Madrigal, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Element Fleet Management. “This partnership combines Waymo’s industry-leading autonomous technology with Element’s global expertise in fleet management and operations. Together, we are enabling Waymo to scale autonomous mobility efficiently, reliably, and at a premium standard across markets.”
Who Is Responsible for the Waymo Driver?
The two companies split the work along a clear line. Waymo plans to offer its ride-hailing service to the public through the Waymo app and keeps responsibility for the Waymo Driver’s validation and performance. Element takes on the operational and infrastructure side, freeing Waymo to focus on the autonomous system and the rider experience.
“Scaling autonomous mobility requires partners with proven operational discipline and global fleet expertise,” said Nicole Gavel, Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Waymo. “Element brings the infrastructure, execution, and scale needed to deploy and operate Waymo’s fleet reliably.”
Scaling Beyond San Diego
San Diego is the starting point rather than the full scope, with the partnership structured to support growth into further markets. The arrangement echoes a similar fleet-management deal Waymo struck with Moove, under which a third-party operator handles fleet operations, facilities, and charging while Waymo retains its driving technology. It also lands as Waymo continues to scale its vehicle production to feed new-city launches. Element reports identifying more than $1.6 billion in client cost-savings opportunities over the past year, the kind of operational efficiency it is positioning as its contribution to running AV fleets at scale.
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