Waymo, the self-driving tech development unit of Google, has started testing the fifth generation “Waymo Driver,” its autonomous driving technology, retrofitted with all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles in Bellevue in Seattle, Washington.

Waymo has already deployed a few vehicles in Bellevue to map the landscape and prepare for inclement weather conditions, with plans to launch six vehicles in the coming six months. The company expects the tests to help develop Waymo Driver and to validate its performance.

The cars will be operated both manually and autonomously with a safety driver to take control if needed.

Analyst QuickTake: Waymo is already conducting commercial autonomous ride-hailing services in San Francisco (California) and Phoenix (Arizona) . The latest developments are in line with the company’s goal of fine-tuning its autonomous tech to support weather conditions pertaining to different geographies (e.g., wet weather in Bellevue). Other companies such as General Motors’ Cruise and Amazon-owned Zoox have also conducted similar tests in Seattle before, indicating increasing efforts to validate self-driving technologies by leading industry players.