Santa Monica City Council Orders Waymo To Stop Late Night Charing

December 2, 2025 ·

Photo courtesy of Cédric Dhaenens.
SANTA MONICA—The Santa Monica City Council issued an order ordering the company Waymo, which operates autonomous taxis, to stop charging its vehicles at the sites located on the 1200 and 1300 blocks of Broadway between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. The order was issued after the city council received complaints over the last few months from residents of Santa Monica about noise from vehicle movement in alleyways and from mechanical noise from charging equipment at the charging sites, which were opened in late 2024. In July, Waymo informed the Santa Monica City Council that it sought to address these complaints by ending the alley congestion and lowering the volume made by its robotaxi. Residents of Santa Monica claim they were not informed that large-scale charging depots would be opening in their neighbors It has been alleged that Volterra, the company that oversees the charging of Waymo’s robotaxi claim they are immune from regulation by the Santa Monica City Council.   By Daniel Diquinzio
In category:Santa Monica
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  1. Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.

  2. . The situation in Santa Monica is quite interesting, especially with the city asking Waymo to change how it handles charging. As self-driving cars become more common, I think these kinds of local concerns will come up more often. It will be interesting to see how the city and the company work things out while keeping the service useful for people!

  3. The interesting part here is how quickly a technology project can affect ordinary neighborhood life. Autonomous taxis may reduce some transport problems, but a charging site operating late at night can create a completely different issue for people living nearby. I think the bigger question is whether residents should have been consulted before these facilities opened, especially when the operation involves regular vehicle movement and equipment noise. New technology still needs to fit into existing communities, otherwise even useful

  4. I found this article really interesting. I can understand why the residents are frustrated—loud noise at night is no joke, especially when you were never told a charging depot was opening next door. It’s good that the city council took action, but I also feel Waymo should be given a fair chance to fix the problem. Hopefully both sides can work together and find a solution that keeps everyone happy. Thanks for sharing this story

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