Robotaxis are ramping up – Hyundai signs deal with Waymo to provide its next-gen autonomous rides

Driverless Ioniq 5s will soon be hitting the streets, as Waymo continues to expand across North America

News By Leon Poultney published 7 October 2024

Hyundai and Waymo have inked a multi-year deal that will see the South Korean automaker implement Waymo's sixth-generation fully autonomous technology into its own purpose built Ioniq 5 robotaxi platform.

We reported last year on Hyundai’s next-gen smart factory that recently opened its doors in Singapore, which was chiefly tasked with producing the Ioniq 5 robotaxi at scale using the latest developments in robotics and AI to automate the process.

Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS, for short), has since passed many of its innovative production methods onto the company’s newest Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Savannah, Georgia, where Waymo’s Ioniq 5 will be built at scale.

There is no word on how large the order is, but Waymo is expanding at a rapid rate, already running an autonomous service in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, with an announcement in the summer of 2023 that it would start testing in Austin, Texas. It plans to roll out a full service in Austin before the end of the year.

Waymo’s decision to opt for Hyundai’s platform will rapidly speed up the rate at which it the company can expand into further territories, as the vehicles will effectively roll off the production line ready to go, rather than having to undergo a series of hardware and software tweaks before they are operational.

Hyundai established a joint venture with autonomous driving specialist Aptiv in 2020, which also gave the manufacturer access to robotaxi and autonomous transport start-up Motional. 

However, Motional announced back in May of this year that it would pause its deployments with ride-hailing firms Uber Technologies and Lyft to focus on hardware development, which Hyundai has effectively now used to forge its latest deal.

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