Hyundai and Waymo, a company of Alphabet, which also owns Google, announced a partnership that will allow the integration of Waymo’s sixth-generation fully autonomous technology into the Ioniq 5 SUV, which will be added to Waymo One’s fleet of robotaxis over time.
The companies plan to produce a fleet of Ioniq 5 vehicles equipped with Waymo’s technology in significant volume over several years to expand the commercial robotaxi service.
“Hyundai and Waymo share the vision of improving the safety, efficiency, and convenience of how people move”, said José Muñoz, president and global COO of Hyundai Motor Company and president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America. “Waymo’s transformative technology is enhancing road safety wherever it operates, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is the ideal vehicle to further scale that. Our new production unit team is ready to allocate a significant number of vehicles to the Waymo One fleet as it continues to expand”, the executive concluded.
Hyundai revealed that the Ioniq 5 to be delivered to Waymo will be equipped with specific modifications ready for autonomy, such as redundant hardware and electric doors.
