According to a recent report by an analyst at UBS via CNBC, Alphabet’s self-driving car Waymo could see $114 billion in revenue in 2030. This revenue would come from its driverless taxi service — which launched publicly last week — and through entertainment and advertising.
During Waymo’s driverless taxi test in the suburbs of Phoenix, Waymo is going to charge fares that are competitive with ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. Waymo is planning to buy 62,000 plug-in hybrid Chrysler Pacifica minivans and 20,000 all-electric Jaguar I-Pace SUVs.
Eric Sheridan, the UBS analyst who published the report for clients, said that Waymo could license the maps and autonomous vehicle operating system to car makers and other companies in order to generate revenue. Sheridan also believes that Waymo could see potential opportunities in logistics and commercial delivery also.
Last year, Strategy Analytics published a report stating that autonomous driving is going to enable a new “passenger economy” representing a $7 trillion global opportunity in 2050. And the report says that consumers who use the mobility-as-a-service offerings are going to account for nearly 55% of those revenues, or $3.7 trillion.
In the USB report, Waymo’s valuation is listed at somewhere between $25 billion and $135 billion. And UBS’ base case valuation for Waymo is $75 billion. As a comparison, Morgan Stanley put a $45 billion valuation on Waymo as of August and could grow to $175 billion.
Waymo is not the only company that is planning to launch driverless taxis. GM is working on a driverless taxi service called Cruise and Uber is also pursuing a similar initiative.
