At least six Waymo self-driving cars have been damaged by the violence taking place in Los Angeles in recent days amid protests against federal immigration raids, according to a representative for the company.
The autonomous vehicles, as well as some Lime electric scooters, have been vandalized, and in some cases set on fire and completely destroyed. Videos of people climbing the Waymo robotaxis and bashing in the windshields, as well as clips of Waymo cars engulfed in flames, were shared widely online, quickly becoming key imagery of the protests in downtown Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Police Department warned people on Sunday to steer clear of the area, due to the risk of toxin exposure from electric batteries catching on fire. All of the self-driving taxis deployed by Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet, are electric. “Burning lithium-ion batteries release toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, posing risks to responders and those nearby,” the department warned in a social media post.
No Waymo riders or employees were harmed during the incidents, and passengers had exited vehicles before they were vandalized, according to a Waymo spokesman. The company stopped service downtown on Monday as the protests continued, though Waymo continued to operate in the broader Los Angeles region.
“Out of an abundance of caution given the recent activity, we removed vehicles from Downtown Los Angeles and will not be serving that specific area of LA at the moment,” a Waymo spokesman said in a statement, noting that the company is working with the police department and other authorities to assess the situation.
It’s not clear whether protesters decided to specifically target the Waymo cars or the Lime scooters, and it’s possible that the vehicles and scooters were in an unfortunate place as the protests escalated.
The Los Angeles Department referred all questions to Waymo and said it did not know if any incident reports had been filed at this time. Waymo declined to comment on the total estimated damage, and Lime declined to comment. Analysts have estimated that the Waymo Jaguar I-Pace SUVs, which are equipped with radar and lidar equipment, cost between $150,000 to $200,000 each.
In San Francisco, where anti-ICE protests have also been ongoing, there was another isolated instance of a Waymo being vandalized, according to the company.
Caught in the crosshairs
Self-driving vehicles have periodically become the targets of vandals, with instances of tire slashing or people throwing fireworks into the vehicles. A couple years ago, a man with a hatchet chased several self-driving Cruise taxis around the streets of San Francisco—sometimes when there were passengers inside.
President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to intervene in Los Angeles on Saturday. Protesters clashed with police, dumpsters were vandalized, and the Los Angeles Police Department shared videos on social media of a store being looted.
By Monday, the protests had calmed, though there was still a large group of protestors marching downtown.
Waymo, which operates in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, and is planning to launch in Austin and Miami, is currently the only robotaxi company in the U.S. Offering commercial operations in several different markets. Tesla is preparing to launch a robotaxi service in Austin this month, although the rollout will be very limited with just 10 to 20 vehicles at first. Waymo said it had surpassed 10 million paid rides near the end of May.