Hyundai Motor and Waymo have agreed to a multi-year strategic partnership that will see the self-driving company add the South Korean automaker's Ioniq 5 electric vehicle to its robotaxi fleet.
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Hyundai Motor Waymo and Waymo have agreed to a multi-year strategic partnership that includes the company adding the South Korean automaker's Ioniq 5 electric vehicle to its robotaxi fleet.
Waymo's sixth-generation self-driving technology, known as Waymo Driver, will be integrated “at significant volume over several years to support” the companies said on Friday. alphabetThe company's growing robotics business supported.
This comes nearly two months after Waymo revealed details about its latest “sixth generation” self-driving technology, which will be integrated into Geely Zeekr electric vehicles, and should be able to handle a wide range of weather conditions without the need for many expensive cameras and sensors. The price. on board.
Waymo, whose fleet today includes about 700 vehicles, operates the only commercial robotaxi service in the United States, Waymo One. It provides more than 100,000 paid taxi rides weekly in the United States today.
The Ioniq 5 EVs will be produced at Hyundai's upcoming “Metaplant America” plant in Georgia, then equipped with Waymo's self-driving technologies. The electric vehicles will be delivered to Waymo with specific self-driving-ready modifications such as redundant hardware and electric doors.
Initial road tests with Waymo-powered Ioniq 5s will begin in late 2025. The companies said they are expected to become available to Waymo One robotaxi riders in the following years.
The two companies refused to disclose the financial terms of the partnership, but confirmed that Waymo will purchase and own the vehicles.
Waymo has previously partnered with other car brands such as Chrysler and Jaguar to produce its technologies and integrate them into vehicles.
The Waymo-Ioniq 5 integration is the first phase of a partnership that could grow in the future, according to Jose Muñoz, Hyundai's chief operating officer and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America.
“The team at our new manufacturing facility is ready to customize a large number of vehicles for the Waymo One fleet as it continues to expand,” Muñoz said in a statement. “Most importantly, this is the first step in the partnership between the two companies and we are actively exploring additional opportunities for collaboration.”
The Ioniq 5 is already being used by autonomous vehicle startup Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and the auto supplier Aptiv. Hyundai said the Waymo partnership “does not impact” Motional.
— CNBC's Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.
