The electric vehicles will be built in the United States and equipped with Waymo’s sixth-generation self-driving system
- Waymo and Hyundai announced a strategic partnership that will see the self-driving ride-hailing company use the Ioniq 5.
- The U.S.-made electric vehicle will be equipped with Waymo’s sixth-generation autonomous driving system, with road testing expected to begin late next year.
- The Ioniq 5 will eventually be added to the Waymo One fleet, and the two companies aim to produce them “in large quantities.”
Waymo and Geely jointly launched Zeekr EV in 2021, focusing on mobility. The model is expected to be added to Waymo’s self-driving fleet and effectively replace its aging Jaguar I-Paces.
While this was a solid plan a few years ago, the political climate has changed and China has become America’s boogeyman. Just last week, the Biden administration proposed a new rule that would effectively ban all Chinese cars, including Buick and Lincoln models.
More: New U.S. tariffs could hit Waymo’s China-made robot taxis
In this environment, it’s no surprise that Waymo seems to have found a backup plan for itself. It comes in the form of a “multi-year strategic partnership” with Hyundai, in which the two companies will integrate Waymo’s sixth-generation self-driving system, called Waymo Driver, into the Ioniq 5 in the first phase.
The electric vehicle is currently being manufactured in the United States and will be added to the Waymo One fleet. This won’t happen overnight, as road testing is expected to begin in late 2025 and it will be available to customers “in the next few years.”
In addition to providing Waymo with a “safe” alternative to Zeekr, it sounds like the Ioniq 5 will eventually make up the majority of the fleet. Although this has yet to be confirmed, the two companies aim to “volume production” of self-driving electric vehicles within the next few years. The companies also revealed that the cars will feature “autonomous driving modifications such as redundant hardware and power doors.”
“Waymo’s transformative technology is improving road safety wherever it operates, and the Ioniq 5 is the ideal vehicle to further expand that scale,” said José Muñoz, CEO of Hyundai Motor North America. “As the Waymo One fleet continues to expand, our new The team at the manufacturing plant is ready to allocate a large number of vehicles to it. Importantly, this is the first step in the cooperation between the two companies and we are actively exploring further cooperation opportunities.”
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