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Hyundai Motor and Waymo have entered into a multi-year strategic partnership in which the autonomous company adds the South Korean automaker’s Ioniq 5 electric vehicle to its robotaxi fleet.
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Hyundai engine and Waymo have entered into a multi-year strategic partnership that sees the autonomous driving company adding the South Korean automaker’s Ioniq 5 electric vehicle to its robotaxi fleet.
The companies said Friday that Waymo’s sixth-generation autonomous technology, known as Waymo Driver, will be integrated in a “significant volume over several years to support” the Alphabetthe company’s growing robotaxi business.
This comes almost two months after Waymo revealed details of its all-new “Generation 6” autonomous driving technology, which will be integrated into Geely Zeekr electric vehicles and should be able to handle a wider range of weather conditions without requiring as much expensive cameras and sensors. on board.
Waymo, which now has approximately 700 vehicles in its fleet, operates the only commercial robotaxi service in the United States, Waymo One. It now offers more than 100,000 paid robotaxi trips per week in the United States.
The Ioniq 5 electric vehicles will be produced at Hyundai’s upcoming “Metaplant America” in Georgia and then equipped with Waymo’s autonomous driving technologies. The electric vehicles will be delivered to Waymo with specific autonomy-ready modifications, such as redundant hardware and power doors.
The first road tests with the Waymo-compatible Ioniq 5s will begin by the end of 2025. They are expected to be available to Waymo One robotaxi drivers in the coming years, the companies said.
The companies declined to disclose financial terms of the partnership, but confirmed that Waymo would purchase and own the vehicles.
Waymo has previously partnered with other automotive brands such as Chrysler and Jaguar to produce and integrate its technologies into vehicles.
The Waymo-Ioniq 5 integration is the first step in a partnership that could grow in the future, according to José Muñoz, Hyundai’s chief operating officer and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America.
“The team at our new manufacturing facility is ready to allocate a significant number of vehicles to the Waymo One fleet as it continues to grow,” Muñoz said in a statement. “It is important to note that this is the first step in the partnership between the two companies and we are actively exploring further collaboration opportunities.”
The Ioniq 5 is already used by autonomous vehicle startup Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and an automotive supplier. Aptive. Hyundai said the Waymo partnership “does not influence” Motional.
— CNBC’s Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.