Motional And Uber Announce 10-Year Deal To Deploy Automated Vehicles In Multiple US Markets

Once upon a time, Uber had a plan to develop its own automated vehicles (AV) to replace most of its human drivers. They’ve since abandoned that plan in favor of bringing robotaxis from other companies onto its platform. A big part of that plan now includes Motional, the joint venture between Hyundai and automotive supplier Aptiv. Motional and Uber have reached a 10-year deal to deploy robotaxis across multiple markets across the U.S.

Uber and Motional began their partnership in late 2021 when some of Motional’s automated Hyundai Ioniq 5s began making food deliveries with Uber Eats in Santa Monica, California. The addition of passenger rides will make Motional the first Uber partner doing both.

Unlike competitors such as Cruise and Zoox, Motional hasn’t yet shown a purpose-built AV. Instead, its fourth-generation vehicles that are now operating in Boston, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, San Diego, Santa Monica and Singapore are based on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric crossover. The AV development group at Motional was formed from what was originally known as Delphi which later acquired Ottomatika and nuTonomy. The company was renamed to Aptiv after spinning off its internal combustion engine engine operations, before the AV team became part of the Motional joint venture.

Motional and its predecessors have been operating commercial paid robotaxi services in Las Vegas since mid-2018 with a fleet of about 30 vehicles running on Lyft. The service recently switched from a fleet of older BMWs to the electric Hyundais. Motional later added robotaxi services in other parts of Las Vegas with Via. All of Motional’s services currently still have safety operators on board, but Motional has previously announced its goal to launch fully driverless operations in multiple markets sometime in 2023.

Motional and Uber haven’t announced which markets will be the first to operate with Uber, but initial trips are expected by the end of 2022. With the experience that Motional already has in Las Vegas, that seems like the most likely location for a launch.

While Motional will operate the vehicles on Uber’s platform, Uber will be sharing data back with Motional about ride usage in markets where the vehicles operate. This is intended to help with deployment of the AVs to aim for maximum utilization, a key component making a viable business model for AVs. Lyft has a similar arrangement with Argo AI.