What it takes to run a robotaxi depot
Space, chargers, cleaning, inspections, people and software: the parts of a robotaxi depot and how they fit into a day.
By Fleetsly · Updated
A robotaxi drives itself, but it still comes home. The depot is where cars charge, get cleaned, get inspected and get fixed. Whether you run five cars or five hundred, it is where uptime is won or lost.
The parts of a depot
- Location. Close to where the rides are, so cars don’t drive far empty to get home.
- Parking. Secure, with room to move cars between charging, cleaning and inspection without blocking each other.
- Chargers. Enough to charge the fleet in the quiet hours, with the electrical capacity to match. See How to charge a robotaxi fleet.
- Cleaning bays. Lit, with water and vacuum, sized for the morning rush. See Robotaxi cleaning.
- Inspection space. Where a technician can check tires, glass, lights and sensors every day.
- Vendors. Tires, glass and body shops nearby, or mobile repair that comes to the depot.
The depot day
- Night: cars return, charge and wait for cleaning.
- Dawn: clean, inspect, and take any car with a critical defect out of service.
- Morning rush: every ready car out.
- Midday: top up the lowest batteries, fix what was found in the morning.
- Evening and night: watch for offline cars and incidents.
People
A depot needs cleaners, technicians and someone on call around the clock. Their phones are their main tool: a list of today’s jobs, a checklist per car, and a way to report what they found with photos.
Who runs depots today
For Waymo, depots are run by fleet partners, and rental companies such as Hertz have been reported to be moving into robotaxi depots. See Who runs Waymo’s fleet?
Measure the depot
Track uptime per car, time from defect to fix, cleaning and charging cost per paid mile, and the reasons cars sit idle. Robotaxi uptime shows what an idle day costs.