Alphabet’s Waymo to expand its Robotaxi fleet with Hyundai EVs

The companies did not disclose financial terms or give a date for start of production of the vehicles.

Waymo, Google parent Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit, will grow its fleet of robotaxis with Hyundai Motor electric vehicles built in the US.

Waymo’s sensors and software, a suite collectively known as the “Waymo Driver,” will be built into IONIQ 5s in “significant volumes” at a new Hyundai plant in Georgia, the two companies said in a joint statement on Friday.

The US robotaxi landscape is mixed as cash-burning startups struggle to move from on-road test fleets to commercialising a product in a handful of cities.

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Waymo, which now uses fleets of retrofitted Jaguar EVs, has momentum and is currently charging fares in a small numbers of markets, including San Francisco and Phoenix. General Motors Cruise unit had been operating at a similar scale and offering paid, fully autonomous rides before one of its cars ran over a pedestrian last year, triggering tougher regulatory oversight. Zoox, owned by Amazon.com, is taking a much slower approach, building its own robotaxi with inward-facing seats and no controls and deploying it carefully.

On-road testing of the Hyundai EVs will start in late 2025, Waymo said, with vehicles being added to its fleets in the years that follow. The companies are in talks about other opportunities outside of the EV supply agreement, Hyundai’s North America Chief Executive Officer Jose Munoz said.

The companies did not disclose financial terms or give a date for start of production of the vehicles.

© 2024 Bloomberg

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