Waymo has spent the past three years refining and testing a minivan-like vehicle made by Chinese automaker Zeekr. And now, before this robotaxi joins Waymo’s official commercial fleet, it’s getting a new name, the company told TechCrunch.

The Zeekr RT robotaxi will now be named Ojai (pronounced “oh-hi”) — after the village in the Topatopa Mountains above Los Angeles that is known for its arts community and focus on wellness.

Waymo’s official explanation, per spokesperson Chris Bonelli, is that the company determined the U.S. public isn’t familiar with the Zeekr brand. That branding may even carry through to the rider experience. Apparently, when customers eventually get into the Ojai, the robotaxi will greet them with an “Oh hi” and their name. Cute.

Of course, in the U.S. it might not hurt to ditch the name of a Chinese automaker either.

For those unfamiliar, Waymo first struck a partnership with Geely Holding Group-owned Zeekr in 2021. Waymo showed off a concept of a purpose-built robotaxi the following year at a splashy event in Los Angeles. The prototype was based on a version of Zeekr’s SEA-M architecture designed for “future mobility products” like robotaxis and logistics vehicles.

Notably, the prototype didn’t have a steering wheel. But the Ojai one, which was shown off at CES 2026, does.

The Zeekr RT (now Ojai) has gone through some fine-tuning over the years as it has gone through development and testing in cities like Phoenix and San Francisco. Last year at CES, Waymo gave the robotaxi the now-retired name of Zeekr RT and showcased some of its hardware, including 13 cameras, four lidar, six radar, an array of external audio receivers, and the tiniest sensor wipers you’ve ever seen.

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That hardware suite is the same. But the paint color has been tweaked, according to the company. Waymo told TechCrunch the paint color, which had a blueish tint, is now more silver.

All of these final tweaks have happened ahead of Ojai’s imminent launch into commercial service. Waymo employees, and their family and friends, are now able to hail the Zeekr van in San Francisco and Phoenix — typically one of the last steps before it becomes available to the public.

Waymo is in the midst of a rapid expansion. The company, which offers a commercial robotaxi service in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco, plans to launch in a dozen more cities over the next year. Those cities include Denver, Las Vegas, and London.

Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.

You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.

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