As rival efforts continue to flounder, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving car company Waymo continues to accelerate. Today Waymo announced a new deal with Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc to deliver vehicles to its self-driving taxi fleet.

Under the deal, Jaguar, a subsidiary of Indian carmaker Tata Motors Ltd., will deliver up to 20,000 I-PACE electric vehicles to Waymo for its autonomous-vehicle ride-hailing service. The Waymo-powered I-PACE will first begin testing later this year, with a rollout for fare services expected starting in 2020.

“The all-electric I-PACE is a natural choice for this world,” Waymo said in a post on Medium. “This is a sleek and graceful car, so it will provide a safe and delightful experience for our passengers. Its size makes it ideal for city driving. Its big, fast-charge battery means it can drive all day, which is perfect for our self-driving service.”

This isn’t the first vehicle supply deal Waymo has signed and it likely won’t be its last. In January, the company signed a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV for the supply of thousands of hybrid minivans for its ride-hailing service and was previously reported to be discussing a supply deal with Honda Motor Co.

The deal is another sign of just how far Waymo has progressed in their efforts to deploy a massive fleet of revenue-producing robotaxis. Waymo started testing a fully driverless — that is, a self-driving vehicle without a so-called “safety driver” behind the wheel — in Arizona in November after earlier testing the program in selected Phoenix suburbs with a safety driver last April.

Its major competitor, Uber Technologies Inc., is in all sorts of trouble after one of its testing vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian March 18. Since that accident has occurred, Arizona suspended Uber’s license to test vehicles in the state. Uber also indicated that it would not renew its testing license in California after that state raised questions about the Arizona crash.

Photo: Waymo