Element Mobility will coordinate onsite fleet operations, charging, energy management and vehicle readiness as Waymo prepares for Toronto passenger service, targeted for 2028.
Element Fleet Management has expanded its strategic partnership with Waymo to support the autonomous-driving company’s planned Toronto ride-hailing service.
Waymo is targeting 2028 for its first Toronto riders. In its October 16 announcement, the company said manual driving would begin in the following days, starting with high-definition mapping and testing with trained autonomous specialists behind the wheel.
Through its Element Mobility division, Element will coordinate the people, facilities, infrastructure and day-to-day vehicle operations needed to keep the fleet charged, maintained, cleaned and ready for deployment.
The agreement builds on a multi-year partnership announced in June 2026, beginning with Element’s support for Waymo’s autonomous mobility operations in San Diego.
Element will coordinate charging and fleet readiness
Element’s Toronto responsibilities will include:
- Fleet lifecycle management
- Vehicle readiness and maintenance
- Charging infrastructure
- Energy management
- Cleaning and servicing
- Connected operational intelligence
- Coordination of people, facilities and onsite operations
The company says its integrated approach is designed to improve vehicle availability and utilization by coordinating charging, maintenance, cleaning, servicing and other onsite activities.
“As a global leader in fleet management and intelligent mobility solutions, we’re proud to bring our expertise and innovation to Waymo’s entry into Canada,” said Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Chief Executive Officer of Element Fleet Management.
“This partnership demonstrates how Element is evolving to support the next generation of mobility: combining our fleet leadership, intelligent mobility solutions, and operational capabilities to help our clients and partners scale efficiently and reliably across markets.”
The partnership announcement does not specify the planned fleet size, depot locations, charger quantities or power ratings, grid-connection capacity, or charging schedules.
Avninder Buttar, Senior Vice President and Head of Electrification at Element Fleet Management, said the infrastructure design and energy-management strategy will depend on the deployment’s operational requirements.
Waymo targets first Toronto riders in 2028
Waymo describes Toronto as its first Canadian deployment, with passenger service targeted for 2028. Its official Toronto announcement outlines a preparation phase involving mapping and validation before welcoming riders.
“Expanding into Canada marks an important milestone in Waymo’s global journey,” said Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo.
“Toronto is one of the world’s great cities — innovative, diverse, and forward-looking. We’re proud to bring the Waymo Driver to Canada’s largest city and to partner with the vibrant business, arts and cultural communities that share our commitment to safer streets and more accessible mobility.”
The 2028 passenger-service date remains a target. The companies have not specified a firm launch date, initial service area or pricing structure in their Toronto announcements.
Responsibilities for winter readiness will be divided between the partners. Element will coordinate maintenance, charging, energy management and operational readiness, while Waymo will manage the capabilities of its autonomous-driving system in Canadian winter conditions.
Partnership builds on San Diego operations
Element and Waymo’s original multi-year partnership announcement identified San Diego as the initial market and described an operating model intended to support expansion into additional markets.
Toronto represents the next phase of that relationship. Element says its San Diego experience provides a foundation for coordinating charging, maintenance, cleaning and vehicle readiness through a repeatable operating model.
Neither the Toronto announcement nor the interview provides operational results from San Diego, such as fleet availability, charger utilization, operating costs or downtime reductions.
Waymo and its partners also expect to invest in hundreds of roles over time to support the Toronto service. The planned functions include fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service and other operational activities.
“We’re thrilled to continue to build our growing partnership with Element Fleet Management, as we begin preparing for autonomous ride-hailing in their hometown of Toronto,” said Nicole Gavel, Senior Director and Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Waymo.
“Together with Element and our partners, we’ll invest in hundreds of roles over time spanning fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service, and other operations functions that support our service.”
The announcement does not specify how those roles will be divided among Element, Waymo and other partners.
Q&A with Avninder Buttar of Element Fleet Management
In an interview with EV Charging Magazine, Avninder Buttar, Senior Vice President and Head of Electrification at Element Fleet Management, discusses charging and energy management, cold-weather readiness and the operating model behind Waymo’s planned Toronto deployment.
1. Partnership Expansion
EV Charging Magazine: What differentiated Element’s capabilities in San Diego and helped expand the strategic partnership with Waymo in Toronto?
Avninder Buttar: Element brings decades of fleet management experience together with intelligent mobility solutions, connected technologies and the onsite operational capabilities needed to support autonomous vehicle fleets at scale. Our work with Waymo in San Diego established the foundation for this next phase of the partnership. As a Canadian-owned company headquartered in Toronto, we are proud to bring that expertise to our home market and aid Waymo in its first Canadian deployment.
2. Charging Infrastructure & Energy Management
EV Charging Magazine: Managing high-utilization autonomous fleets demands a very different charging profile than conventional fleets. How is Element designing the charging infrastructure and energy management strategy for the Toronto deployment?
Avninder Buttar: Charging and energy management are central components to keeping an autonomous fleet ready, available, and operating efficiently. Element’s role includes coordinating charging infrastructure, energy management and onsite fleet operations as part of an integrated approach to vehicle readiness and uptime. We’ll apply our fleet management expertise to support Waymo’s Toronto operations, and the specific infrastructure design and energy management strategy will depend on the deployment’s operational requirements.
3. Cold-Weather Operational Readiness
EV Charging Magazine: Toronto presents unique cold-weather challenges compared to milder markets. What operational protocols and infrastructure adaptations are being developed to maintain fleet and battery readiness year-round?
Avninder Buttar: Element will ensure that vehicles are properly maintained, operationally ready and compliant with applicable standards and regulations. That includes coordinating maintenance, charging and energy management, and day-to-day fleet readiness. Waymo will manage the capabilities of its autonomous driving system in Canadian winter conditions.
4. Lessons Learned
EV Charging Magazine: What key operational or data-driven lessons from the San Diego deployment are being applied to the Toronto rollout?
Avninder Buttar: One of the biggest lessons in scaling autonomous mobility is the importance of coordinating the entire operating ecosystem, rather than managing individual vehicles in isolation. Maintenance, cleaning, charging, energy management and vehicle readiness must work together to minimize downtime and maximize availability. Our experience together in San Diego provides a foundation for bringing this integrated operating model to Toronto, with an emphasis on repeatability and scalability across markets.
5. Connected Intelligence & Operations
EV Charging Magazine: How does Element’s connected-intelligence platform integrate vehicle telemetry, charging, maintenance, cleaning, and staging operations to maximize uptime and fleet utilization?
Avninder Buttar: Connected intelligence helps bring together the information and operational activities needed to keep a fleet running reliably. Through Element Mobility, we combine connected technologies and operational intelligence with fleet lifecycle management, maintenance, cleaning, charging and onsite coordination. This integrated approach helps ensure vehicles are ready for deployment while supporting greater availability, utilization, and operational efficiency.
6. Key Performance Indicators
EV Charging Magazine: How do you measure success in an autonomous fleet environment, and which operational metrics are most critical compared with traditional fleet management?
Avninder Buttar: The fundamental objective remains ensuring that vehicles are ready when needed, but autonomous fleets place a particularly strong emphasis on coordinating readiness and availability across the entire operation. To achieve this, we focus on vehicle availability and utilization, operational downtime, reliability and efficiency. These outcomes depend on how effectively maintenance, charging, cleaning and other onsite activities work together.
7. Scalability
EV Charging Magazine: How is Element building a scalable operating model that can support future Waymo deployments beyond Toronto?
Avninder Buttar: We’re building an integrated model that combines fleet management expertise, intelligent mobility solutions and onsite operational execution. By coordinating the people, facilities, infrastructure and day-to-day activities required to keep vehicles ready for service, we can establish a repeatable foundation for autonomous fleet operations across markets. Toronto represents the next phase of our partnership with Waymo, and the broader model is designed to support long-term growth as autonomous mobility expands.
8. Industry Vision
EV Charging Magazine: As autonomous mobility expands globally, what role do you see Element playing in shaping the physical and digital infrastructure required to support AV fleets long-term?
Avninder Buttar: Autonomous mobility depends on more than the technology driving the vehicle. It also requires the operational infrastructure to keep fleets maintained, charged, compliant, and ready for service. Element’s role is to enable that deployment through fleet management, charging and energy infrastructure management, connected operational intelligence and onsite execution. We’re bringing the operational expertise and scale needed to help mobility innovators deploy and operate autonomous fleets reliably and efficiently.
Toronto extends Element’s integrated operating model
Element Fleet Management’s role in Toronto will center on coordinating the physical and digital operations required to keep Waymo vehicles charged, maintained and available for service.
According to Avninder Buttar, Element will measure operational performance through vehicle availability, utilization, downtime, reliability and efficiency. The company has not disclosed numerical targets for those measures.
The next milestones will include details of the fleet, depot and charging infrastructure, followed by the transition from mapping and validation to passenger operations. Waymo is targeting its first Toronto riders in 2028, but no firm launch date has been announced.
