Waymo to Offer Hyundai Self-Driving Taxis Starting in 2026

Waymo has confirmed it is adding the Hyundai IONIQ 5 to its self-driving taxi fleet after agreeing a multi-year strategic partnership with the South Korean automaker.

The first phase of that partnership will see the Alphabet-owned company’s recently announced sixth-generation Waymo Driver autonomous tech integrated in the stylish EV, which was named World Car of the Year in 2022.

The Waymo-bound IONIQ 5s will be assembled at Hyundai’s new manufacturing facility in Bryan County, Georgia, with initial testing earmarked for late next year and the autonomous vehicles (AVs) being made commercially available to riders “in the years to follow.”

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No financial details have been released about the arrangement and there has been no comment on specifically how many IONIQ 5 self-driving taxis will be made – although a statement issued to reveal the news did confirm there would be “significant volume”.

Waymo has previously used Chrysler Pacifica minivans and currently deploys converted Jaguar I-Pace SUVs.

“Hyundai’s focus on sustainability and strong electric vehicle roadmap makes them a great partner for us, as we bring our fully autonomous service to more riders in more places,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo. 

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José Muñoz, president and global COO of Hyundai Motor Company, added: “The team at our new manufacturing facility is ready to allocate a significant number of vehicles for the Waymo One fleet as it continues to expand. This is the first step in the partnership between the two companies, and we are actively exploring additional opportunities for collaboration.”

The IONIQ 5 has already proven its ability as a self-driving taxi in the US, operating in Las Vegas for Motional – a Hyundai subsidiary – and also currently being tested in Austin by Avride, the Texas start-up that has emerged from Russia’s Yandex Self-Driving Group.

Waymo says its version will have “autonomous ready” modifications such as redundant hardware and power doors. In addition, its 800-volt architecture enables particularly fast charging times, meaning minimal hours out of service – important for a taxi.

However, the deal will inevitably lead to questions about what the future holds for the self-driving minivan that Waymo has been developing with Chinese brand Zeekr, owned by one of the country’s largest automakers Geely.

Publicly Waymo appears to be sticking to the line that the Zeekr joint venture is unaffected, and indeed only this week it posted a video on social media urging people to “keep your eyes peeled as we continue testing our 6th-gen Waymo Driver on the Zeekr platform across our Waymo One cities this fall.”

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But in an increasingly unfriendly landscape where Chinese EVs have been hit with huge tariffs in the US and the Biden administration is clamping down on connected and autonomous tech from the country, it is perhaps understandable that Waymo has decided to look elsewhere (even though the Waymo Driver is unaffected by the latter legislation).

When rumors of a potential Waymo-Hyundai deal first started a couple of weeks ago, Zeekr told Reuters: “There is no change to Zeekr’s partnership with Waymo. [We are] actively working together to deploy the vehicles.”

Waymo is offering around 100,000 self-driving taxis a week in the U.S., operating in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and has plans to scale significantly over the next few years. Earlier this week it confirmed it is set to make its autonomous cabs available to the public in a fourth city, Austin.