Wasatch Front · Utah · Pre-launch
Autonomous transportation is moving from testing toward commercial reality. But removing the driver doesn't remove the operation. Vehicles still have to be acquired, financed, charged, cleaned, inspected, maintained, recovered, staged and kept earning. WAM is building the groundwork for that operation on Utah's Wasatch Front.
25 vehicles first. Prove the economics. Build from there.
// Pre-launch. No vehicles owned. No capital being accepted.
// Published so the gap between our ambition and our current reality is never in question.
Autonomy solves the driving. It doesn't solve the operation.
Autonomous software does not clean up the spilled coffee, notice the dead charge, change the flat tire in Parleys Canyon, or move the car that ended its night three cities from where it's needed.
And the physical work is only part of it. A fleet has to be acquired and financed, insured, housed, powered, kept legal, kept utilized and eventually sold. Someone has to own that whole layer.
The autonomous software drives the vehicle. WAM's goal is to be the company that keeps the fleet operating.
That is our thesis, not a settled fact. We are testing it deliberately, and the first 25 vehicles exist to tell us whether it holds.
// The operating layer around an autonomous vehicle. None of it is driving.
Position
Most of the interesting questions about this industry are still open. We would rather publish that than pretend otherwise.
Everything above is work that can be done before a single vehicle is available for purchase — and almost none of it requires deploying meaningful capital.
We think that is the right sequence. Do the research, build the relationships, design the operation, model the economics. Then, if commercial access opens and the numbers hold up, move quickly because the preparation is already done.
If the numbers don't hold up, we don't move. That is a real outcome we are willing to accept.
Roadmap
Targets, not forecasts. Every phase is conditional on the one before it producing numbers that justify continuing.
Phase 01
25vehiclesDetermine real revenue, utilization, downtime, operating costs and return on invested capital. Do not scale because the concept is exciting. Scale only if the numbers justify it.
Phase 02
100vehiclesDetermine whether WAM can efficiently manage a meaningful autonomous fleet through repeatable systems, crews, infrastructure and process.
Phase 03
500vehiclesExpand hubs and operational density across the Wasatch Front, and determine whether the original economics can be replicated at greater scale.
Phase 04
1,000+vehiclesIf the model continues to work, expand throughout the Wasatch Front and evaluate additional markets.
// 1,000+ is an ambition, not a forecast. Phases 02 through 04 happen only if the phase before them produces economics that justify continuing.
WAM is building the operational capability to acquire, deploy and manage autonomous vehicle fleets as commercial access becomes available.
We intend to work within the requirements of vehicle manufacturers, autonomous networks, regulators and local transportation authorities. WAM should complement autonomous networks rather than compete with their software, autonomy or dispatch systems.
The exact operating model will depend on the requirements of each network. Tesla's Cybercab is the first platform we are investigating; WAM is not a Tesla company, and is intended to work across multiple manufacturers and networks as the industry develops.
Capital strategy
WAM is currently building relationships with people and institutions interested in autonomous transportation. No capital is being accepted.
If commercial fleet access becomes available and the economics justify deployment, WAM will determine the appropriate capital structure at that time. We have not decided whether that means equity, an SPV, vehicle-level ownership, debt, institutional financing, founder capital, or a combination — and we are not going to pretend we have.
The objective today is not fundraising. It is making sure that if the opportunity becomes investable, WAM already has relationships with people capable of moving.
We are not building on assumptions
Lean until commercial access and economics justify deployment.
The model
We won't write the autonomy software and we won't set the price of the vehicle. These are the operating metrics WAM intends to optimize — the variables a physical fleet operator can actually influence, and the reason fleet operations matter.
Metric 01
Hours a vehicle is available to earn versus hours it sits waiting on a person.
Metric 02
Minutes between one rider leaving and the next being able to board. Across a fleet, it compounds into capacity.
Metric 03
Labor, supplies and depot time consumed by each cycle. Should fall as routine, tooling and fleet density improve.
Metric 04
Charging scheduled against off-peak rates and next-day demand rather than topping up wherever a car stops.
Metric 05
Interiors, tires, sensors and panels maintained on schedule. Condition drives both service life and residual value.
Metric 06
A fault caught on the inspection lane costs an hour. The same fault caught on the road costs a recovery and a cancelled ride.
Operating design
The operating system we're designing. Every vehicle in our care would move through the same six stages, continuously, in this order — a car is not deployed before it has cleared inspection.
Collected at end of shift, on low charge, or on an exception flag — wherever on the Front it finished.
Full interior turnaround: vacuum, surfaces, glass, upholstery and odor. Exterior wash on rotation.
Scheduled against off-peak rates and next-day demand, so a car leaves with the range its route needs.
Tires, brakes, sensor and camera surfaces, panel damage, cabin hardware. Findings photographed and logged.
Released into service and staged where demand is expected — airport mornings, canyon weekends, campus weekdays.
Watched through the shift for faults, cleanliness reports and stranded vehicles, which route straight back to 01.
// Utah adds its own problems: snow and salt removal, sensor cleaning and de-icing, winter tire changeover, canyon road conditions, and weather-driven staging decisions. A depot loop designed in a dry, flat city does not survive a February here.
Market
Utah may be an unusually good first market for a dense autonomous fleet: the population sits in a narrow north–south corridor along I-15, with an international airport, a business corridor, universities and four ski canyons all inside it.
// Bracketed items are unfilled. We would rather show a placeholder than an unsourced number.
Potential future models
Neither of these is being offered today. Both depend on rules that manufacturers and autonomous networks have not published.
Not currently offered
If autonomous networks permit third-party vehicle ownership and operation, WAM intends to explore managing vehicles owned by outside investors, institutions and individual owners. Potential services could include:
// Depends entirely on manufacturer and network rules. Not currently being offered, and we cannot say today whether it will be possible.
Depends on the network
WAM's vehicles may ultimately operate through manufacturer or autonomous-network dispatch platforms rather than a WAM-branded rider app. The exact rider experience, pricing, booking flow and service territory would depend on the network through which the vehicles operate.
// WAM's focus is the fleet and the physical operation behind the ride, not owning the consumer relationship. Whether we hold any part of that relationship is one of the open questions above.
Questions
No.
WAM is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tesla or any other manufacturer. Tesla's Cybercab is one potential initial platform we are investigating — nothing more than that.
No.
WAM is not accepting investment capital and is not conducting a securities offering. We are building relationships with potential future capital partners, and that is all this page is doing.
Unknown.
That depends on rules Tesla or other autonomous networks have not established yet. If third-party fleet management becomes possible, WAM intends to explore it. We are not able to commit to it today.
Unknown.
Launch timing depends on commercial vehicle availability, regulatory requirements, network access, and whether the economics justify deployment. We are not going to invent a date.
We evaluate other platforms.
WAM is intended to be an autonomous fleet company, not exclusively a Tesla company. If that door stays closed we would evaluate other autonomous vehicle and network opportunities as the industry develops. The operating layer we're designing is largely platform-agnostic.
Because most of the work isn't the vehicles.
Regulatory research, capital relationships, infrastructure planning, operational design and industry relationships can all be built before a single vehicle is purchased — and cheaply. Doing it now is what lets us move quickly if and when access opens.
Substantial, and mostly outside our control.
Manufacturer and network restrictions. Regulation. Insurance structure and cost. Technology delays. Vehicle availability and pricing. Capital requirements. Poor unit economics. Competition from better-capitalized operators. And strategy changes by the manufacturers themselves, which could close this category entirely.
Any one of these could mean WAM never deploys a vehicle. That is a real possible outcome and we would rather say so here than discover it with someone else's money.
Get involved
WAM is currently talking with potential capital partners, infrastructure providers, property owners, operations partners, manufacturers, businesses and others interested in autonomous transportation on the Wasatch Front.
If that's you, this is the queue. No commitment, and nothing is being sold.