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Waymo has struck a deal with Hyundai to bring the IONIQ 5 EV to its robotaxi network, adding another autonomous vehicle option as it scales up its business.
The autonomous vehicle company announced Friday that it expects to start on-road testing a Waymo-equipped IONIQ 5 by late 2025, with the AV becoming available to riders “in the years to follow.” Chris Bonelli, a spokesperson for Waymo, declined to share the financials of the deal.
Hyundai will build the IONIQ 5s at the factory it is about to open in Georgia, and Waymo will then integrate its autonomous vehicle technology into the vehicles at a separate location. Waymo said it expects to produce a “significant volume” of autonomous IONIQ 5s with Hyundai. Bonelli declined to say how many that means, and said the IONIQ 5 is not directly replacing any of the vehicles it currently uses or plans to use.
The addition of the IONIQ 5 to Waymo’s fleet will help the company deal with the churn of vehicles it uses on its growing robotaxi network. While it started with Chrysler Pacifica hybrid vans, it has since phased those out. Waymo currently relies on aging Jaguar I-Pace SUVs. The company is currently testing vans purposely designed for autonomous use made by China’s Zeekr in San Francisco, though that vehicle could run into tariff trouble.
Waymo has also been expanding how people can hail its AVs. Just last month, it announced that Uber will make Waymo AVs available on its own ride-hailing network in both Austin and Atlanta next year.
Partnering with Waymo comes at a pivotal moment for Hyundai. It spent years and billions of dollars creating an autonomous vehicle joint venture called Motional with automotive supplier Aptiv. But Aptiv backed away from Motional earlier this year, leaving Hyundai to step in and plug the financial hole. Motional has since gone through a major restructuring that led to hundreds of layoffs, and CEO Karl Iagnemma stepped down in September.
A different autonomous version of its IONIQ 5 is also currently being tested with Yandex spinout Avride that will ultimately become available on Uber’s ride-hail network.
Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
