Alphabet’s Waymo sells a miniature scale model of its white Jaguar I-PACE robotaxi, which has become a fixture on urban motorways in California.
Unfortunately, it’s unavailable for sale — unless you work for Waymo.
The miniature model is just one of the exclusive merchandise Waymo sells in its internal store for employees, according to Sophia Tung, an autonomous vehicle-focused content creator, who told Business Insider that she purchased several other items through a friend at the company.
A Waymo spokesperson confirmed the existence of the store to Business Insider.
That Waymo has an employee-only store is not unique to the company, especially in the tech world. Still, it’s only so often that the product tech workers are focused on lends itself to the kind of physical merch Waymo has, Tung, a former software engineer at Twitter, told BI.
“Twitter had one, but it was sort of boring stuff. There wasn’t anything cool,” she said. “I feel like if you’re shipping a physical product like Waymo, there’s more opportunity for it to look good.”
According to Tung and screenshots of the employee website she shared with BI, the store also sells branded clothing, including baby onesies. Some go beyond the usual tech merch, like a company logo slapped on a T-shirt or hoodie.
Lloyd Lee/Business Insider; Courtesy Sophia Tung
Some of Waymo’s tees and jackets, for example, feature a cartoon version of its robotaxis. Other clothing gets more creative, such as a shirt that recalls Andy Warhol’s signature four-panel canvases.
Courtesy Sophia Tung
There are also enamel pins, mugs, hats, and beach towels, according to Tung.
“I really only got the stuff that looked more design-y and interesting,” she said, adding that she felt the clothing she purchased didn’t immediately look like company merch.
Courtesy Sophia Tung
The star of the show is undoubtedly the mini Waymo car, which Tung said is a 1:43 scale of the Jaguar I-PACE.
Tung said the model appears to be made by TrueScale Miniatures based on the packaging. The company makes small-scale models of cars for OEMs, according to its website.
A TSM spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Courtesy Sophia Tung
With Waymo’s partnership with other OEMs for future configurations of its robotaxis, including Hyundai and China’s Zeekr, Tung said she hopes Waymo will continue making small-scale versions of its cars.
“I want to collect them all,” she said.
Do you have a story to share about Waymo? Contact this reporter at lloydlee@businessinsider.com.
