Ahead Of Tesla Robotaxi Event, Alphabet's Waymo Partners With Hyundai For Autonomous Taxi Expansion

On Friday, Hyundai Motor Company HYMTF and Waymo by Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG announced in a joint statement that they have entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration. The initial phase involves integrating Waymo’s sixth-generation autonomous technology, known as the “Waymo Driver,” into Hyundai’s all-electric IONIQ 5 SUV.

What Happened: The IONIQ 5 vehicles will be manufactured at Hyundai’s new EV facility in Georgia and will join the Waymo One fleet. The companies aim to produce a significant volume of these vehicles over several years to support Waymo One’s expansion. Testing of the Waymo-enabled IONIQ 5 is expected to commence by late 2025, with availability to riders following in subsequent years, according to PRNewswire.

Waymo’s co-CEO, Tekedra Mawakana, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, highlighting Hyundai’s commitment to sustainability and electric vehicles. José Muñoz, president and global COO of Hyundai, emphasized the shared vision of enhancing safety, efficiency, and convenience in transportation. The collaboration marks the beginning of further joint efforts between the two companies.

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Chang Song, President of Hyundai’s Advanced Vehicle Platform Division, noted that the partnership aligns with Hyundai’s autonomous vehicle foundry initiative, which aims to support global autonomous driving companies with advanced vehicles.

The announcement comes ahead of Tesla‘s TSLA Robotaxi event slated for Oct. 10 where CEO Elon Musk is expected to reveal three vehicles.

Why It Matters: The collaboration between Hyundai and Waymo signifies a significant step in the autonomous vehicle industry. This comes at a time when Waymo’s expansion into autonomous ride-hailing services is gaining momentum. In a recent partnership with Uber, Waymo plans to launch autonomous ride-hailing services in Austin and Atlanta by early 2025. This collaboration will involve Uber managing a fleet of Waymo’s fully autonomous, all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles.

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Image via press release

This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari